LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

Shelf -j3-8-

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

HINTS AND HELPS

ON THE

Sunday-School Lessons

FOR 1893.

BY

REV. DAVID JAMES BURRELL, D. D.,

REV. JOSEPH DUNN BURRELL.

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY,

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.

COPYRIGHT, 1892,
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY.

GONTRNTS.

FIRST QUARTER.

Returning from the Captivity. Ezra i:i-ii. D. J. B. 7

Rebuilding the Temple. Ezra 3:1-13. D. J. B 16

Encouraging the People. Hag. 2:1-9. D. J. B . 24

Joshua the High-Priest. Zech. 3:1-10. D. J. B. 33

The Spirit of the Lord. Zech. 4:1-10. D. J. B. 42

Dedicating the Temple. Ezra 6:14-22. D. J. B. 50

Nehemiah's Pra3^er. Neh. 1:1-11. D. J. B. _^ 58

Rebuilding the Wall. Neh. 4:9-21. D. J. B (i^

Reading the Law. Neh. 8:1-12. D.J. B 75

Keeping the Sabbath. Neh. 13: 15-22. D. J. B. 83

Esther Before the King. Esther 4: 10-17; 5: 1-3. D. J. B 91

SECOND QUARTER.

The Afflictions of Job. Job 2:1-10. J. D. B 99

Afflictions Sanctified. Job 5 17-27. J. D. B 108

Job's Appeal to God. Job 23:1-10. J. D. B. 116

Job's Confession and Restoration. Job 42:1-10. J. D. B ^_--^ 124

Wisdom's Warning. Prov. 1:20-33. J. D. B i. 133

4 CONTENTS.

The Value of Wisdom. Prov. 3: 11-24. J. D. B. 141

Fruits of Wisdom. Prov. 12: 1-15. J. D. B 149

Against Intemperance. Prov. 23:29-35. J. D. B. 157

The Excellent Woman. Prov. 31 : 10-31. J. D. B 165

Reverence and Fidelity. Eccles. 5: 1-12. J. D. B. 173

The Creator Remembered Eccles. 12:1-7, i3> I4- J- D. B. 181

THIRD QUARTER.

Paul Called to Europe. Acts 16:6-15. J. D. B 189

Paul at Philippi. Acts 16:19-34. J. D. B. 198

Paul at Athens. Acts 17:22-31. D.J. B. 207

Paul at Corinth. Acts 18:1-11. J. D. B 214

Paul at Ephesus. Acts 19:1-12. J. D. B. 223

Paul at Miletus. Acts 20:22-35. J. D. B 232

Paul at Jerusalem. Acts 21:27-39, J. D. B. 241

Paul Before Felix. Acts 24:10-25. J. D. B 250

Paul Before Agrippa. Acts 26:19-32. J. D. B. 259

Paul Shipwrecked. Acts 27:30-44. J. D. B 269

Paul at Rome. Acts 28:20-31. J. D. B 278

FOURTH QUARTER.

The Power of the Gospel. Rom. 1:8-17. D. J. B. 287

Redemption in Christ. Rom. 3:19-26. D. J. B 295

CONTENTS. 5

Justification by Faith. Rom. 5:1-11. D. J. B 303

Christian Living. Rom. 12:1-15. D. J. B I 311

Abstinence for the Sake of Others, i Cor. 8:1-13. D. J B. 319

The Resurrection, i Cor. 15:12-26. J. D. B. 327

The Grace of Liberality. 2 Cor. 8:1-12. D.J. B. 335

Imitation of Christ. Eph. 4:20-32. D. J. B 344

The Christian Home. Col. 3:12-25. D.J. B. 354

Grateful Obedience. Jas. 1:16-27. D.J. B. 364

The Heavenly Inheritance, i Pet. 1:1-12. D. J. B. 371

The Glorified Saviour. Rev. 1:9-20. D.J. B. 381

HINTS AND HELPS.

RETURNING FROM THE CAPTIVITY.

Ezra i:i-ii.

God rules. His throne is at the centre of history.
His sovereignty is the key of all the mysteries in provi-
dence and grace. For what is love worth, or justice
either, unless there is power behind it? Whether at Si-
nai or at Calvary the manifesto is the same : *' The Lord
God omnipotent reigneth !"

Our world was not moulded in the Creator's hands,
invested with laws and then flung out into space. It is
under his eyes continually. He cares for the lilies of the
field more assiduously than a farmer's wife for the pop-
pies and carnations before her door. He guides the stars
in their courses, the sparrows in their flight. Kings de-
liberating on vast policies and children lost and frightened
in the shadowy woods are alike under his protection. He
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay his
hand or say unto him. What doest thou ?

Oh, blessed Providence ! We, the immortals, are not
like tufts of cotton seized in the teeth of insensate Law as
of an irresistible machine to be torn asunder and twisted
together — the helpless prey of rods and whiriing wheels —
to be lost and forgotten in the beauty of an ultimate fab-
ric. We are not victims of fate. We are God's children ;

8 HINTS AND HELPS.

the world is his nursery, his school-room, his 'prentice
shop; he oversees, he corrects and enheartens, he cares
for all.

We look behind and speak of History ; before, and
speak of Prophecy ; but he looks neither behind nor be-
fore. Yesterday and to-morrow are alike to him. One
glance sweeps the whole horizon. Does it seem wonder-
ful that Cyrus should have been called and commissioned
by name two centuries before his birth ? We forget that
telling and foretelHng are the same with God. The map of
eternity and the universe has always been spread out before
him. In our cursory survey of his dealings with his cho-
sen people we shall perceive, over and over, how he hath
known the end from the beginning. We shall see them
dragged from their homes to receive chastisement in the
weary bondage of a distant land. We shall see them kept
for a man's lifetime as separate from their surroundings as
the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. We shall see them de-
livered by an interposition of Providence as marvellous as
the rod that once before had opened for them a highway
through the waters of the sea. We shall hear them sing-
ing on their homeward journey, '' The Lord hath done
great things for us, whereof we are glad." (Psa. 126: 3.)

Firsts the Captivity. It was in the year 604 B. C. that
Nebuchadnezzar reduced Jerusalem and returned with his
first deportation of captives. The date is important be-
cause it furnishes the prime factor in all calculations
respecting the deliverance from Babylon. The captivity
was for an appointed time, seventy years. There was a
special reason why it should be precisely seventy years.
The Lord had required of Israel the observance of every
seventh year as a season of Sabbatic rest ; for a period of
four hundred and ninety years this injunction had been

RETURNING FROM THE CAPTIVITY. 9

practically ignored. Seventy Sabbatic years have been
desecrated; seventy years of Babylonish chastisement
shall expiate the sin. So true is retribution ; so precisely
is the sentence adjusted to the fault. '' Be not deceived ;
God is not mocked ; whatsoever a man soweth that shall
he also reap.''

But the captivity was not mere retribution ; it was
discipHne. Its purpose was not so much to punish as to
reform. The chosen people had in them great possibil-
ities, but they were wayward and stiff-necked. Had they
been no more to God than the Amorites and the Periz-
zites he might have suffered them to gang their ain gait ;
but whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. These were a
chosen people, bearing as it were a filial relation with God.
The children's portion is theirs. So it is written, ^' If ye
endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons ;
for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"
(Heb. 12: 6-1 1).

The Jews had a mission. God had called them from
among the nations to take charge of his oracles. The
world was lapsing into idolatry; monotheism must be
kept and handed down until Christ shall usher in the
New Economy. For this function Abram was chosen
and called out of Ur of the Chaldees. To him and his
children was committed the true religion, which they were
solemnly enjoined to keep pure and undefiled for the
coming ages. But this people, however superior to other
tribes and nations in many particulars, had not been loyal
to its trust. It had forgotten Jehovah and his laws, had
neglected his sanctuary and profaned his Sabbaths. It
needed chastening. God as a wise Father had no alter-
native but to inflict it. Hence the captivity. Nor was
the discipline in vain. God's people were duly exercised

lO HINTS AND HELPS.

thereby. It will be profitable to note some of the lessons
which they learned during these seventy years.

(i) They were cured of idolatry. They had previ-
ously been unable to resist the imposing rites and ceremo-
nies of their pagan neighbors. But their familiarity with
the abominations of the Babylonish gods had nauseated
them. They longed for God, for the living God, saying,
'' When shall we*return and appear before God ?'^

(2) They conceived a new devotion to the Lord's
sanctuary. Its holy observances had once been a weari-
ness to their flesh ; but now they were homesick for Zion.
The institution of the Synagogue is traced to this period.
The captives hanged their harps on the willows, and
wept when they remembered Zion. Oh, to hear again
the sound of the silver trumpet, the voice of the Levite,
the antiphonal anthem, " Praise the Lord, for he is good ;
for his mercy endureth for ever !"

(3) They learned the value of the Scriptures. '' Bless-
ings brighten as they take their flight.'' It was long
since they had seen the minister take the scroll from the
sacred chest. To hear it read again v/ould be like a
draught of water on a desert journey. One there was in-
deed among the captives who had devoted himself to the
task of collecting and preserving all scraps and fragments
of Holy Writ. A company of kindred spirits, calling
themselves ''scribes," were gathered about him. It is
related that this man, Ezra, and his co-laborers in " the
Great Synagogue," after the return from the Captivity,
perfected the Old Testament canon. Certain it is that a
great revival occurred in the study of the Scriptures (see
Neh. 8).

(4) The stock of Israel was culled and greatly im-
proved during this period of chastisement. And it was

RETURNING FROM THE CAPTIVITY. II

only the choicest and best that joined in the Restoration.
In the caravans that successively returned to Jerusalem
were '' the noblest of the Jewish race, the flower of the
princes, patricians, and priests of Judah, of its skilled me-
chanics and once successful burgesses." Thus the colo-
nists who gave themselves to the rebuilding of the walls
of the Holy City and its sanctuary were far better quali-
fied than the original body of the people to fulfil the im-
portant mission which had been laid upon them.

(5) The Israelites were greatly knit together during
the Captivity. They learned to share each other's woes,
to bear each other's burdens. Their tears were mingled
in remembering the pleasant days of lang syne, and they
enheartened each other with hopes that were shadowed
forth in prophecy. " One touch of nature makes the
whole world kin." A common sorrow will erase the en-
mity of years. Pain is a mighty solvent. The Jews of
to-day scattered abroad over the earth are a living wit-
ness to the unifying power of adversity. Their first expe-
rience of it as a nation was in Babylon. In their trials
there they felt the need of fellowship ; they crowded close ;
they felt the beating of each other's hearts ; they held each
other up.

(6) The heart and intellect of the nation were broad-
ened by their stay in Babylon. As a man's ways of think-
ing are modified by travel — his charities enlarged, his
prejudices dissipated, and his patriotic impulses quick-
ened— so these people who had dwelt in a narrow strip of
country shut ofl" from the world by the desert, the Med-
iterranean, and the crags of Moab, were required by their
contact with strange modes and customs to abandon many
of their provincial notions and readjust their policies to
the fact that the world was greater than they had sup-

12 HINTS AND HELPS.

posed. And this widening of vision is manifest in all
their subsequent history. They were thenceforth cos-
mopoHtan, no longer dwellers in a far corner of the earth.
Thus it appears the Captivity was no mere happen-
ing ; it was an essential part of the divine plan with
respect to the chosen people. It was intended for their
good ; and the outcome shows the far-seeing wisdom of
the gracious Father who planned it, and who used his
enemies as pliant instruments in the accomplishment of it.
Now

II. As to the Proclamation of Cyrus. This also was
in pursuance of the divine plan. The clock struck at pre-
cisely the right moment. Jerusalem was taken by Nebu-
chadnezzar in 604 B. C. The proclamation was issued
536 B. C, leaving time for the beginning of the second
temple in May of the year 534 B. C. The intervening
period v^^sjust seventy years, God does all things in ful-
ness of time ; nothing is premature, nothing too late.

It is worth repeating that this Proclamation had been
predicted nearly two centuries before its issuance. The
very name of its author was given : " Thus saith the
Lord, I am he that stretcheth forth the heavens and
spreadeth abroad the earth ; I am he that turneth wise
men backward and maketh their knowledge foolishness ;
I am he that confirmeth the word of his servant and per-
formeth the counsel of his messenger ; I am he that saith
to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, and to the cities of
Judah, Ye shall be built ; I am he that saith to Cyrus, He
is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure, even
saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the tem-
ple. Thy foundation shall be laid." (Isa. 44 : 24-28.)
These words were uttered when as yet Jerusalem was
standing and its temple was resonant with the praises of

RETURNING FROM THE CAPTIVITY. 1 3

God. How remote the contingency referred to ! And
when that prophecy was afterwards read by the captives
in far-away Babylon how improbable its fulfilment must
have seemed ! Cyrus, surnamed '' the Great," was the last
of sovereigns from whom to expect an act of homage to
Israelis God. But the king's heart is in the hand of the
Lord as the rivers of water ; he turneth it whithersoever
he will. (Prov. 21 : i.)

It is recorded that "Jehovah stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus, the king of Persia, to make this proclamation
throughout all his kingdom." How did the Lord stir up
his heart? (i) Doubtless he spoke to him by the voice
of his Spirit in the inner man. We are all thus directed
at times : if we grieve not the Spirit we shall be ever
guided in this way. (2) Probably Daniel, who occupied
at fhis time a place of honor and responsibiHty at the Per-
sian court, brought the matter to the king's attention. He
may have read to him the prophecy of Jeremiah : " Thus
saith the Lord, After seventy years are accomplished at
Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word to-
wards you in making you return to your city " (Jer.
29 : 10) ; and the prophecies of Isaiah in which he was
exhorted by name to break in pieces the gates of brass
and cut in sunder the bars of iron. (Isa. 44 : 24-28 ; also
45 : 1-4.) The thought that he was thus singled out for
honor and responsibility may have stimulated him to the
noble deed. (3) It may have shaped itself in his mind
as a suggestion of policy. He was at this time aiming at
Universal Empire. A friendly ally on the eastern shores
of the Mediterranean might be an important factor in the
furtherance of his plans. (4) Or possibly there was a re-
ligious motive. He was a monotheist. He may have
received the message and commission from Jehovah as

T4 HINTS AND HELPS.

from his own Ormuzd; and thus, as one bewildered
among names and groping in the dark, may have ren-
dered an act of obedience to the one true God.

III. The return to Jerusalem. ^^ Then rose of the
chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests
and Levites, with all whose spirit was quickened, to go up
and build the house of the Lord.''

It was a voluntary movement. No one was com-
pelled to go. All were encouraged. Such as were too
poor to go were '' strengthened with vessels of silver and
gold, with goods, with beasts of burden, and with precious
things." The king himself greatly aided the enterprise
by restoring to the pilgrims the sacred vessels which
Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from the temple in
Jerusalem. So they set forth — not unmindful of the diffi-
culties of the journey, but prayerful and hopeful. There
were 50,000 in all. Zerubbabel with ten elders led the
way. There were 8,000 camels for burden - bearing.
They were four months on the journey.

In the 126th Psalm we have one of the songs of this
pilgrimage : '' When the Lord turned again the captivity
of Zion we were like them that dream ; then was our
mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing !"

The tribes of the wilderness had heard their fathers
tell how, almost a century before, bands of captains had
been carried past, in chains and weeping, towards the
East. Could these be the children of those same bond-
men— these who journeyed with glad steps and in their
bivouacs awoke the echoes of the distant hills with their
rejoicing? "Then said they among the heathen, The
Lord hath done great things for them !"

But, alas, there were captives still in Babylon ! Bound
by ties of long association, they preferred to remain where

RETURNING FROM THE CAPTIVITY. 1 5

they were rather than flee to dangers that they knew not
of. It was a long journey ; and at the journey's end a
ruined city and a desolated shrine. Was it worth while ?
'' Nay/' said they, " Babylon is better." But as the pil-
grims journeyed they were mindful of those who thus
tarried in the land of bondage. Prayers ascended for
them from every tent at eventide : '' Turn again our cap-
tivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South — as the rivers
of Negeb swollen by the latter rains !"

God is the hearer of prayer. Tears tell ; and no sup-
pliant crieth in vain. Not a few of the laggards were
moved to return. Many w^ho said farewell by the banks
of the Euphrates clasped hands again beneath the rising
walls of Jerusalem. Pray on, O Christian, for thy friends
who are still in bondage. Prayer fills a brazen sky with
promises of rain. Prayer melts the snows of Hermon.
Prayer swells the brooks of promise to mountain torrents
of blessing. Pray on ! Pray for friends and neighbors ;
pray for such as are wasting their substance in the far
country ; pray for the nations that lie in darkness and the
shadow of death. God hears. He will turn again our
captivity, again and again, until Babylon is a desolation
and Jerusalem resounds with song. For it shall come to
pass in the last days, saith the Lord, that my house shall
be established in the top of the mountains and all the na-
tions shall flow unto it. (Isa. 2 : 2.)

l6 HINTS AND HELPS.

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE.

Ezra 3:1-13.

The journey was over. Four months the great cara-
van— 50,000 of the flower of Israel — had toiled along the
desert wastes and mountain paths. Band by band they
had dimbed the last heights of Moab and emerged in
sight of Zion; a Httle further and they camped amid the
sacred ruins. There were those among them who could
remember the former magnificence : homes and palaces
jostling each other — for Jerusalem had been ^' builded as a
city compact together" — streets echoing with the con-
fused noise of many industries, gateways thronged with
chaffering merchants, the slopes of the surrounding hills
carpeted with yellow fields and vineyards, beasts of bur-
den defiling along the mountain roads — a picture of sur-
passing beauty and prosperity — and in the midst of all,
the towering splendors of Solomon's temple, '* exceeding
magnifical.'* But what a change ! Where were now
the marble walls, the gilded domes and columns ? Where
were the prosperous merchants, the camel-drivers, the
Tyrian fish-peddlers ? How dreary the desolation ! How
oppressive the silence ! From rubbish heaps on every
side the owl and bittern derided the days of old# The
glory had departed.

But these returning exiles were not the men to give
themselves to lamentation or fruitless reminiscence. They
were picked men : volunteers ; chosen of God to rebuild
the waste places. They had not ventured upon this en-
terprise without a clear understanding of the difficulties in
the way. They were animated by patriotic and religious

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE. 1/

motives of the noblest character. They felt themselves to
be consecrated and commissioned servants of the living
God.

In the seventh month— the most sacred of the Jewish
calendar — there was a great rally. '' The people gathered
themselves together as one man to Jerusalem." They
were about to undertake the restoration of their ancestral
cidtus. Who could tell what important and far-reaching
issues were to flow from the proceedings of that day?
There was no misgiving or trepidation ; no one held
back. They rallied like the disciples of Christ at Pente-
cost, '' all with one accord in one place."

I. The first thing they did was to rebuild the altar.
This was a right beginning. The altar of sacrifice was
the centre of the Jewish religion, just as its antitype, the
cross, is the centre of Christianity. The temple, import-
ant as it was every way, could wait ; but the fire must be
kindled on the altar at the very outset. Thus a man may
be a very excellent Christian, though ignorant of the doc-
trines of systematic theology and the conventionalities of
worship, if only he is a reverent believer in Christ and
him crucified. The cross is the great saving truth. The
cross is our altar, it stands at the centre of our religion
and casts its luminous shadow in all directions to the
uttermost parts of the earth.

(i) The altar of burnt-offering, in this instance was
intended as a safeguard. The people made haste con-
cerning it because " fear was upon them." They were
surrounded by tribes of the desert and mountain whom
they had reason to regard as hereditary foes. The ordi-
nary course to pursue under such circumstances was to
build fortifications; but these people were under divine
protection. One of their songs ran in this wise, *' We have

2

1 8 HINTS AND HELPS.

a strong city: salvation will God appoint for walls and
bulwarks" (Isa. 26: i); and again, ''Thou shalt call thy
walls Salvation and thy gates Praise " (Isa. 60: 18). There
is no hiding-place like the divine love ; no security like
that which a timid soul finds under the shadow of the
altar (Psa. 84:3). "The right of sanctuary " has been
associated with God's house from time immemorial. To
this day there is a charmed spot within the precincts of
the ruined Abbey of Holyrood, at Edinburgh, where
debtors are free from molestation. A man is never, never
so safe from the adverse influences of this and the invisi-
ble world as when upon his knees.

(2) This altar, furthermore, is said to have been *' set
upon its bases ;" that is, it was restored upon its former
foundations. The rubbish was cleared away and the old
bases were found ; and these people knelt at the altar in
the very place where their fathers had knelt before them.
There is virtue in observing the old landmarks. In these
days when new departures are in the air, new theologies
and revisions of old symbols, it may not be unprofitable
to ponder on the fact that some things never grow obso-
lete. Air and water and sunlight are just what they were
when Abram pitched his tent by the great river ; nor is
human ingenuity likely to improve them in any way.
There are some truths which bear to our spiritual consti-
tutions the same relation as light does to the eyes and
water to the lungs. Nothing can change them, nothing
amend or improve them. There may be new formula-
tions, new modes of presentation ; but the altar of the
Christian religion will stand on its old bases as long as
time endures. And the altar itself is not left to our de-
vising; it must be built after the pattern shown in the
mount. A new hire must be kindled upon it, new sacrifices

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE. I9

made continually, and new prayers offered around it;
but the truth, however presented, must stand upon the
Rock of Ages. This never shifts, is never disturbed by
the Zeitgeist ; it is, like God himself, the same yesterday,
to-day and for ever.

(3) It will be observed, also, that the ceremonies of
this restored altar were conducted after the prescribed
form. The importance of haste was not permitted to
mar the order of the proceedings. Joshua the high-priest
took the lead ; and Zerubbabel, of the line royal, assisted
him. Church and state cooperated, as they should ever
do, being coordinate powers, alike ordained of God. And
the sacrifices were laid upon the altar *' by number, ac-
cording to the custom, as the duty of every day required."
If ever there was occasion for the waiving of formalities it
was here ; yet everything was done in due order. Here
is a lesson for all haste-makers — for men who under ex-
traordinary pressure of business excuse themselves from
the morning hour at the family altar. There is great
reward in scrupulosity. Let all things be done decently
and in order. He that believeth shall not make haste.

II. The next thing the Israelites did^ after having
restored the altar, was to prepare for the rebuilding of their
temple. We are at every point impressed with the delib-
erateness of these people. There was no fretting or
worrying; no premature planning and proclaiming.
They knew that years of labor were before them ; and
many important things must be done before it could be
undertaken. '' The foundation was not yet laid." There
were heaps of rubbish to be cleared away ; ways and
means to be considered; materials collected; skilled
workmen secured ; and the whole work must be organ-
ized and placed in competent hands. But they could

20 HINTS AND HELPS.

afford to be deliberate so long as they knew that God
was with them, overseeing and directing them.

(i) The altar, meanwhile, was kept in constant use.
Its fires never went out. There was no lack of offerings
upon it. The people had learned by sad experience their
dependence on God. This enterprise would prove a
failure to a certainty unless he furthered it, " except the
Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it ;
except the Lord keep the city the watchman waketh but
in vain."

(2) There was but little difficulty in collecting the
necessary funds. The people had come full-handed from
the land of their captivity. The tithes of the first harvest
were enlarged by propitious suns and gracious rains.
Free-will offerings poured in, each man giving as the
Lord had prospered him. It is written, '' They gave unto
the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand
drams of gold and five thousand pounds of silver " (Ezra
2 : 69). This was about $500,000 ; or an am_ount equal to
ten dollars for every soul— large giving when contrasted
with the ten cents per capita which Christians are said to
be giving on the average each year for the conversion of
the world. But these people were in earnest. They
meant to build the temple and to dedicate it free from
debt. Think of the trouble and scandal that might arise
from a mortgage in the hands of some Syrian or Moabitish
money-lender ! No such mismanagement was dreamed
of The money must be in hand for the whole work
before the corner-stone could be laid. And there was no
Board of Church Erection to help them out. The money
must be forthcoming; and they must give it. So they
all gave, men, women, and children. They gave as
they prayed. When all believers do the same, the

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE. 21

glory of the Lord will soon cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea.

(3) We are given to understand that the workmen
were secured by generous outlay and paid promptly when
the wages fell due. There was to be no builders' lien on
the temple. Some of the skilled artisans were from among
the neighboring tribes ; they should see how God's peo-
ple held the balances between capital and labor. There
must be neither strikes nor lockouts. And, indeed, why
should there ever be ? The secret of the ultimate settle-
ment of the labor problem lies in the Golden Rule. If
the Carpenter of Nazareth could have his way there would
be everywhere an honest day's wages for an honest day's
work. Walking delegates and Pinkerton's men would go
out together ; there would be nothing for them to do.

(4) The materials for the temple were collected from
every quarter. Tyre and Zidon and the forests of Leba-
non were put under contribution. The whole world
bestirred itself because the Lord had said, *' Build me a
house !" Thus he ever utilizes the nations. The Caesars
built highways for the propagation of the gospel. Soul-
less corporations in our time are binding the far corners
of the earth together with iron bands and cables, not
knowing nor caring that God's kingdom is thus being
ushered in. Arise, O temple of the Lord ! Arise, shine ;
for his glory is risen upon thee ! Gentiles shall come to
thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift
up thine eyes round about and see; they gather them-
selves together, they come unto thee ! The multitude of
camels, the dromedaries of Midian ; the flocks of Kedar,
the rams of Nebaioth ; they all, saith the Lord, shall come
with acceptance to mine altar. The glory of Lebanon
shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the

22 HINTS AND HELPS.

box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I
will make the place of my feet glorious !"

III. So they came to the building of the temple. It
was not until Zif — the blossom month — of the second year
of their return that the preparations were so far completed
as to warrant the laying of the corner-stone. The event
occurred on the seventieth anniversary of the destruction
of the former temple. It was an occasion of great rejoic-
ing. The priests were there *' in their apparel, with trum-
pets :" and the Levites with cymbals, to praise the Lord
after the ordinance of David. The heights of Zion that
had slumbered so long awoke to the voice of music. To
and fro among the great choirs rose the antiphonal re-
frain, "^ Praise the Lord, for be is good ; his mercy endur-
eth for ever !" Those who had no lot nor part in the
rejoicing heard it from the surrounding hills and won-
dered. The air rang with the shrill blast of trumpets, the
clang of cymbals and the voices of the multitude; for
" they shouted with a great shout because the foundation of
the house of the Lord was laid." Never had Zion known
such acclamations since the memorable day of the bring-
ing up of the ark from the house of Obed-Edom ; when
the king sang "' Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the
people, give unto the Lord glory and strength !" and all
the people shouted, '^ Amen ; praise ye the Lord !"
Verily the old times were come again. But there was
also the minghng of a minor strain. Some of the returned
exiles were moved to tears at the laying of the founda-
tions. They remembered the glory of the former house,
the sweet convocations there, the faces that were gone.
Was it strange that they lifted up their voices and wept ?
Possibly under these outward tokens of sorrow lay a
deeper and more grateful joy than could have found ex-

REBUILDING THE TEMPLE. 23

pression in song and laughter. For if they missed the
Ark, the sacred fire and the glittering splendors of the
time when silver was as stones in Jerusalem, they had
God's promise that greater glories were in store for the
new house. The Son of Man himself— of whom the Ark
was a faint symbol — would walk in the midst of it; his
doctrines would furnish forth a better repast than the
table of show-bread ; his prayers would rise more accepta-
bly than incense from the golden altar ; and the shining of
his face would illuminate the sanctuary with a splendor
beyond that of the golden candlestick. The lamentations
of these elder pilgrims are lost in the blare of trumpets,
the clang of cymbals, and the swelling chorus, '' Praise the
Lord, for he is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever !''

A great temple is rising in the earth, without the
sound of hammer or of ax, in which all people shall, in the
last days, worship God in the beauty of holiness. The
foundation has been laid ; for '' other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The
builders are at work, each over against his own place in
the wall. The highest honor possible to mortal man is to
be reckoned among them. No life is so well spent as that
which, hke the minute architect of the coral reef, leaves
itself in the substance of the fabric. Let us lend a hand in
service however humble to the upbuilding of the king-
dom of truth and righteousness on earth. The work is
under way ; the walls rise higher with each rising sun ;
the time draws near when the top-stone of the corner shall
be laid with shoutings of '' Grace, grace unto it !"

24 HINTS AND HELPS.

ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE.

Haggai 2:1-9.

It was now fourteen years since the returned exiles
had laid the corner-stone of the temple with clang of
cymbals and multitudinous shouts of thanksgiving. That
had been a great and memorable day. What joyous
hopes were theirs — what courage and enthusiastic devo-
tion ! But alas, a tinder fire soon dies. The temple was
still unfinished. Its bare walls stood open to the skies ;
and winds from the heights of Moab swept through the
unlinteled doors, awaking derisive echoes in the great
courts that should have been resonant with hallelujahs.
The outer precincts were littered with unused stone and
lumber; and cedar-rafts were floating moss-covered in
the harbor at Joppa, thirty miles away. No sound of ax
or trowel disturbed the silence of the sacred enclosure.
Owls blinked among its nooks and crannies ; foxes from
the clefts of Hinnom crept in and out of its Holy of Ho-
lies. A ruined church is oftentimes a sad comment on
religion ; an unfinished church is a sadder one.

Why was it? What had arrested the work that
began so auspiciously?

(i) The enthusiasm of the people was but a transient
fervor. Too many of our ships are wafted out by favor-
ing gales only to be becalmed upon the open sea. An
ounce of resolution goes further in the long run than
a ton of impulse. The race is not always to the swift nor
the battle to the strong. The long training of the athlete
will go for naught if he neglect to gird up his loins.
Steadfastness is a cardinal virtue. The reward is to him

ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE. 2$

that overcometh; not to the man that putteth on his
harness, but to him that putteth it off. These people
should have known that temple-building was the work of
years of patient continuance. When the songs ceased
and the smoke of the holocaust cleared away their ardor
cooled.

(2) Then they began to question and calculate:
Might it not be that the project was premature ? The
altar was restored ; why could not the temple wait ?
Thus church committees in our time halt in their enter-
prise, content to roof over the unfinished spire or to
worship in the chapel for a while. In this case, moreover,
there was an open question as to the fulness of time.
The rebuilding of the temple should mark the completion
of the seventy years of chastisement ; but from what point
should they reckon? From Nebuchadnezzar's victory,
the final destruction of the temple, or the last deportation
of captives ? There were two sides to the question : and
some said, " The time is not come, the time that the
Lord's house should be built " (Hag. i : 2).

(3) Meanwhile there was the natural concern as to
temporal affairs. For years the land had been untilled :
it needed to be cleared of weeds and ploughed and
planted. They could not live without harvests. And
their homes, too, must be rebuilt ; it was not to be ex-
pected that they would dwell continuously in tents or
among these ruins. Thus one by one the workmen left
the temple walls and turned their energy to affairs of
more personal moment. Perhaps if they had continued
to devote themselves to God's sanctuary he might have
devised some plan of providing for their wants. Perhaps !
There was no doubt about it. There never is ; ^' Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all

26 HINTS AND HELPS.

these things shall be added unto you/' But hard times
were pushing these people to the wall. They felt the
necessity of looking to their own affairs. The temple
could wait; food and raiment do not lay themselves at
one's feet; God helps those who help themselves. Thus
the workmen laid aside their hammers to follow the
plough, and turned from the temple to put a roof over
their own heads.

(4) And there were other things that conspired to
arrest the work. The adjacent tribes had set themselves
against it. The Samaritans, their neighbors on the north —
a mongrel people, monotheistic and with a tincture of
Jewish blood — had at the first besought the privilege of
cooperating with them. The request was promptly re-
fused ; in such an enterprise compromise with a semi-
pagan people was out of the question. The refusal in-
censed and embittered them, and thenceforward they bent
their utmost energies to hinder the work. ^' They weak-
ened the hands of the people and troubled them in build-
ing." They used their influence against them through
hired agents at the Persian court with such effect that a
firman was at length issued putting a summary injunction
on the further restoration of the temple. This order,
however, was not issued until some years after the laying
of the corner-stone ; so that, with proper diligence, the
work might have been greatly advanced if not wholly
completed before this difficulty arose (see Ezra 4). At
this point it will be interesting to note one of the curious
instances of the confirmation of Scripture. In RawHn-
son's "Ancient Monarchies " we are informed that they?r-
man here referred to was not issued by Cyrus nor by his
son Cambyses — both of these being Zoroastrians and
therefore in some sympathy with the Jews as monothe-

ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE. 2/

ists — but by the usurper Smerdis, who being a Magian
was not unwilling to oppose any people who worshipped
a personal God. Not until Darius came to the throne, he
also being a Zoroastrian, did the Jews pluck up courage
to resume the work.

This occurred m the second year of Darius Hystas-
pis, 520 B. C, and was brought about largely through the
efforts of Haggai and Zechariah, who ^* prophesied unto
the Jews that were in Jerusalem in the name of the God of
Israel " (Ezra 5 : i). The former is known to us only
through his connection with this affair. His prophecies
are brief and fragmentary, consisting of three addresses
all delivered within a period of three months.

I. The first (Haggai i) was deHvered at the feast of
the New Moon, on the first day of the sixth month, 520
B. C. On this occasion a sacrifice was offered, the rulers
and people being assembled within the neglected precincts
of the temple. In the shadow of the unfinished walls,
with heaps of unused stone and lumber scattered about,
Haggai arose and addressed himself in the name of the
Lord to Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high-
priest. He alluded to the pretext made by some for de-
laying the work, *' The time has not come for the building
up of the Lord's house !" and rebuked it with a scathing
reference to their absorption in personal affairs, " Is it
time for you to dwell in your ceiled houses and this house
lie waste ?" He admonished them that self-seeking at the
expense of the Lord's work is a losing venture. Their
own prosperity had suffered. Their crops had failed,
their savings had dwindled away. " Ye looked for much
and lo, it came to little ; and when ye brought it home I
breathed upon it and it was gone ! Why ? saith the Lord.
Because ye neglect my house and run every man unto his

28 HINTS AND HELPS.

own." This was the reason why the dews had failed and
the earth was stayed from her fruit, why drought had
come upon the fields and failure on all the labor of their
hands.

If it seem that Haggai here appealed to a low motive,
let it be remembered that the Jews were always sensitive
at this point. They had ever an eye to the main chance,
and have to this day. The Lord knew how to move
their sluggish natures. In three weeks from the time of
the prophet^s admonition the work upon the temple was
again under way. The firman of Smerdis was still
operative ; but Darius the Zoroastrian was now upon the
throne, and all fears were quieted by the prophet's assur-
ance, '' Thus saith the Lord, I am with you !" (Haggai i).

Then a new opposition arose. In this instance it
came from Tatnai and Shethar-boznai, representatives of
the Persian government in the neighboring territory.
They demanded of the elders of Israel their authority for
proceeding with the work and inquired for names that
they might present a formal indictment at the Persian
Court. This indictment was met by a counter statement
on the part of the elders, who asked for an investigation
of the records of Cyrus with respect to the original decree.
This brought out the truth of the matter ; so that Darius
issued an order cancelling the firman of the usurper and
endorsing the original permission to build. But while this
decision was pending the hearts of the workmen were
filled with apprehension.

II. Then Haggai delivered his second address ;
(Haggai 2 : 1-9). It was on the twenty-first day of the
seventh month of the same year, 520 B. C. This also was
at one of the great annual feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles.
The builders were discouraged not merely by the opposi-

ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE. 29

tion of Tatnai and Shethar-boznai, but by the fact that
their resources seemed inadequate to a great enterprise.
The old men were continually recalling the splendors of
Solomon's temple in contrast with the humble dimensions
and adornments of this second house. Was it worth
while to spend themselves, in the face of such hindrances,
upon a structure of such inferior glory ?

" Thus saith the Lord, Be strong, O Zerubbabel, and
be strong, O Joshua, and be strong, all ye people of the
land — and work ! For I am with you." It was the voice
of Haggai encouraging the builders. " Thus saith the
Lord, I am with you!" What more could they want?
The test of loyalty is pursuance of the work. God hath
spoken ; let that suffice. Storms are naught when he
walketh on the waves. Imperial manifestoes are paper
pellets when he uttereth his voice. " Be strong, therefore,
and work." No fearing, no questioning, no tarrying.
On with your work, saith the Lord, for I am with you !

" And the glory of the latter house shall be greater
than of the former." Yet how could that be? There
were those among them who had seen the former house —
a forest of beauty, a mountain of treasure; and ^* was not
this in their eyes in comparison as nothing?" Where
were the spacious courts and porches ? Where were the
gilded columns, the resplendent domes, the imposing
stairways, the massive doors, the ivory throne, the fine
twined curtains, the vestments set with sparkHng jewels,
the Ark of the Covenant, the tables of stone, the Urim
and Thummim, and the shechinah — the luminous cloud of
the divine presence ? All gone ! '' Nevertheless," said
Haggai, ^' the glory of the latter house shall be greater
than of the former." How could that be? (i) To begin
with, God would here manifest himself in the outpouring

30 HINTS AND HELPS.

of his power. Sublime messages of truth, announcements
of divine faithfulness in the fulfillment of old-time shad-
ows, flaming prophecies of ultimate glory were to be heard
amid these rising walls. (2) But better still Messiah him-
self was to worship at the altar and walk among these
porches. If the Hght of the golden candlesticks was
quenched, what mattered it ? The Light of the World
was here to shine forth ! And who would miss the pillar
of cloud, when the God who manifested himself therein
should come in flesh and commune with his people face to
face and eye to eye? A glad farewell to painted em-
blems in home or sanctuary when Jesus in person enters
at the door ! Welcome to the Desire of all Nations ! All
masterpieces lose their glory in comparison with the
beauty of his face. Gold grows dim and diamonds shine
no more in the light of his countenance. (3) If God were
so minded he might adorn the second temple with wealth
incomputable. '' The silver is mine and the gold is mine,
saith the Lord.'' It would be a little matter for him to
compel the hills and the oceans to empty their treasures
upon it. But silver and pearls are only dust, shining dust.
Truth and righteousness, which endure for ever, shall be
for the adorning of his sanctuary. (4) Still further, the
latter house was to be beautified with salvation : '' for in
this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." The
hands of Jesus were to be hfted there in the benediction,
" Peace be unto you !" Many a sinner v/as to hear, with-
in its sacred confines, the gracious words, " Thy sins be
forgiven thee !" In one of its porches a sinful woman was
to crouch beneath the scorn of her accusers until he
should say, " Neither do I condemn thee ; go, sin no
more." It was to be as the very palace of Shiloh from
which pardons should go forth like doves fluttering from

ENCOURAGING THE PEOPLE. 3 1

its windows. It was to be the centre of God's mighty-
work of grace^ to which a multitude of souls would cast a
grateful backward look, saying, " Behold, I was born
there !" ^

With such considerations did the prophet encourage
the builders. At this juncture also came the decision of
Darius with respect to the original decree ; it was to the
effect that his officers everywhere must keep hands off:
'' Let God, who hath caused his name to dwell in Jeru-
salem, destroy all rulers and people who shall hinder the
building of his house. I, Darius, have made the decree ;
let it be done with speed." Thus again, for a season, the
work went on with enthusiasm. But new misgivings arose.
The winter crops had been sown and needed to be cared
for. What was to become of the fields and vineyards if
the men were all employed upon the temple? Their
granaries were already empty ; what would befall them in
the event of the failure of another crop ?

III. Then came Haggai's third message : (Hag^ai
2 : 10-19). He began by admonishing them that sin dis-
qualifies for holy service. A lie, a false measure, the
touching of an unclean thing will unfit them to lay a stone
in the temple wall. Then he touches upon their sordid-
ness and want of faith. If they attend to the Lord's com-
mand he will see that their harvests are cared for. They
had already tried the other course ; and the work of their
hands had been smitten with blasting and with mildew
and with hail. Let them now turn and trust him. '' Is
the seed yet in the barn ? saith the Lord. Have not the
vine and the fig-tree, the olive and the pomegranate
brought forth ? Be not anxious, therefore; from this day
will I bless you." How hard it is to learn the lesson.
Nevertheless it holds true that godhness — obedience, sim-

32 HINTS AND HELPS.

pie trust — is profitable unto all things, having promise of
the life which now is, as well as of that which is to come
(i Tim. 4: 8).

On the same day when this address was made to the
people a special word of encouragement was sent through
the prophet to Zerubbabel (Haggai 2:20-23). There
were reasons why he, as the civil ruler of Jerusalem and
specially accountable to the Persian authorities, should be
strengthened from on high. He was accordingly advised
that wars were approaching in which the earth-powers
were to totter to their fall, ^^ the horses and their riders
to be brought down, every one by the sword of his
brother." But a promise was given that, amid all this
commotion, Zerubbabel was to be divinely cared for.
Greater kings would fall, but he— the petty governor of a
small province — would have his name inscribed in imper-
ishable records. God would make use of him as a sove-
reign uses his signet-ring. How his heart must have
swelled with grateful pride on hearing these words : '' In
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Ze-
rubbabel, my servant, and will make thee as a signet ; for
I have chosen thee !'^

The words of Haggai the prophet are ended. His
mission, as we have seen, extended over a brief period of
only three months. His work was to encourage the
builders ; and he did it. What more could be asked of
any man? God has a commission for every one. To
heed and endeavor is to make an assured success of life.
This is the very best that can be written of any mortal
man, that he had something to do and did it for God.

JOSHUA THE HIGH-PRIEST. 33

JOSHUA THE HIGH-PRIEST.

Zech. 3:1-10.

At the time when the Israehtes had left off the re-
building of the temple and were going about their per-
sonal affairs, two prophets — Haggai and Zechariah — ap-
peared to admonish them. Our acquaintance with the
former is limited to three addresses, very brief, and all
delivered within the space of a few weeks ; but these, at
the time, created so profound an impression that it was
reported — and has come down in tradition to this day —
that Haggai was an angel dwelling among men. His
colleague, Zechariah, was younger; less inclined to re-
proof than to exhortation, and fond of dwelHng on the
splendid rewards of virtue. His prophecies were deliv-
ered in the form of visions. There were nine in all, as
follows :

(i) The Man among the Myrtles ; (chap, i : 1-17).

(2) The four Horns and the four Carpenters ;
i: 18-21).

(3) The Man with a Measuring Line; (2 : 1-13).

(4) Joshua the High-Priest; (3: i-io).

(5) The Candlesticks and the Olive trees; (4: 1-14).

(6) The Flying Roll; (5 : 1-4).

(7) The Woman in the Ephah ; (5:5-11).

(8) The Four Chariots; (6: 1-8).

(9) The Crowns of Silver and Gold; (6:9-15.)

The fourth of these visions is now to engage our at-
tention. It was intended, like all the others, to encourage
the rebuilding of the temple. The high-priest at this
time was Joshua. It was his peculiar function to minister

3

34 HINTS AND HELPS.

at the altar, not only in behalf of the people, but as their
representative. In this capacity he foreshadowed the
atoning work of Jesus as the- Great High-Priest, taking
our place before the offended law. It became him, there-
fore, to keep himself unspotted from the world. The
white garments in which he ministered on the Day of
Atonement typified the immaculateness of the ideal Inter-
cessor, who must be '' holy, harmless, and undefiled.''
But Joshua knew that he fell far short ; and the people
also were not unaware of it. No doubt there were times
when his heart was overburdened with a sense of un-
worthiness and he cried, '' Who am I that I should stand
before the people or minister at the altar of God !" But
the Lord is not a hard taskmaster; he knoweth our flesh;
he remembereth that we are dust. It is his delight to
strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees.
At this very time he sent to Zerubbabel, the civil ruler in
Jerusalem, a message by the lips of Haggai for his com-
fort and encouragement. A corresponding message was
now sent to Joshua through Zechariah. The resumption
and successful prosecution of the work upon the temple
devolved not less upon the ecclesiastical than upon the
civil power. Zerubbabel and Joshua must cooperate.
The former was ready ; the latter needed to be extricated
from the Slough of Despond. To this end the fourth
vision was given.

I. At the opening of the vision the prophet saw
Joshua standing to be judged before the angel of God.

(i) And he was clothed in filthy garments. He was
indeed quite unworthy, of himself, to stand even for him-
self— much more as the representative of the people-
before God. The best of humankind is not perfect. The
Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men

JOSHUA THE HIGH-PRIEST. 35

to see if there were any that did understand and seek
God ; and lo, they are all gone aside, said he; "there is
none that doeth good, no, not one." Adam ate of the
forbidden fruit. Noah was drunken. Abraham prevari-
cated. David's hands were stained with blood-guiltiness.
Isaiah lamented that he was a man of unclean lips. Peter
foreswore his faith. John gave way to anger. There is
no difference; we have all sinned and come short of the
glory of God. The contrition of Joshua was, therefore,
becoming in him ; and all the more because of his official
position. However he might array himself in white linen
when he lifted the veil of the Holy Place, he knew in his
inmost heart that before the all-searching eyes his gar-
ments were mere shreds and tatters. And therein he was
indeed a just representative of the people. For it is
written, "We are all as an unclean thing; and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64: 6).

(2) "And Satan stood at his right hand to resist
(i. e. accuse) him." There is no lack of accusers. Satan
is prosecuting attorney and his assistants are without
number. God's people are always at the bar of judgment,
and alas ! they have little enough to say for themselves.
Guilty is the plea. Do their best they ever fall short,
and they as well as their adversaries know it. The
church is not an organization of good people, but of peo-
ple who v/ant to be good. They feel their infirmity and
realize the need of sympathy and mutual prayer. The
church is a great guild of spiritual husbandmen, who are
pledged to stand by one another in the effort to live holy
and useful lives. The self-righteous people are therefore
not in the church, but outside of it ; morahsts who think
themselves strong enough to get along without sympathy
and righteous enough to dispense with prayer. These

36 HINTS AND HELPS.

are the real Pharisees ; these are the ones who note the
imperfections of Christians and say to them " Stand aside,
for I am holier than thou!" We are in the church, not
because we glory in our worthiness as saints, but because
we feel ourselves to be sinners. And as such Satan and
his fellow-accusers are ever ready to call attention to the
spots upon our raiment. It is useless to attempt to please
or satisfy them. Our Lord himself said, '' I will Hken
this generation to children sitting in the market-place
and calling one to another and saying, ' We have piped
unto you and ye have not danced ; we have mourned
unto you and ye have not lamented.' " In any case the
accusation goes on. What then ? The best we can do
is to quit the game in the market-place ; cease trying to
please the world and do our utmost to please God.

II. Next in the vision the Lord himself appeared to
vindicate Joshua. He stands as the champion of his peo-
ple; his ear is ever open to their cry. A woman who
had been a great sinner once ventured, in token of her
grateful penitence, to anoint the feet of Jesus with prec-
ious oil of spikenard ; and when his disciples murmured
against her he said, " Let her alone !" On another occa-
sion the Scribes and Pharisees were making sport of his
disciples because of their inability to heal a demoniac
boy, when he suddenly appeared among them and look-
ing around with a withering glance, said, '^ What ques-
tion ye with them ?" Thus he ever befriends his own.
He is the champion of all the weak and humble. And at
the last when we stand in filthy apparel before the judg-
ment bar, he will be there as our Advocate to plead his
righteousness in behalf of all who believe in him.

(i) In this instance he rebuked Satan; not because
there was no truth in his charge that Joshua was un-

JOSHUA THE HIGH-PRIEST. 37

worthy to minister at God's altar or have part in the re-
building of the temple, but because of other considera-
tions which made his accusations null and void, (a)
'' The Lord hath chosen Jerusalem ;" that is, the Jewish
people. Joshua was one of the chosen. That was
enough. For who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that justifieth; (Rom. 8:51-39).
(b) Moreover, some regard was due to the natural in-
firmity of Joshua. *' Is not this a brand plucked out of
the fire?" Had Joshua been an angel, perfection might
have been looked for ; but he was a sinner, a sinner saved
by grace. Is it strange if the charred brand has still the
smell of the flames upon it ? Too much must not be ex-
pected of a soul escaped from death but still wrestling
with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride
of life.

(2) The Lord having thus rebuked Satan said to his
own attendant angels, '' Take away from Joshua his filthy
garments." And it was done. And unto Joshua he said,
'' Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee !"
Thus does he unclothe his people of their filthy rags and
make them worthy to minister before him. He is a great
Forgiver. By the cleansing of his blood our iniquities
are taken from us ; they are removed from us as far as
the east is from the west, thrown into the depths of an
unfathomable sea, cast behind his back, remembered no
more against us. '' Come now, saith the Lord, and let us
reason together; though your sins are as scarlet they
shall be white as snow, and though they be red like
crimson they shall be as wool." Thus the Lord encour-
aged Joshua and qualified him, despite his personal un-
worthiness, to offer sacrifices and join with Zerubbabel in
the rebuilding of the Temple. And thus does he stand

38 HINTS AND HELPS.

at the heavenly tribunal as the Vindicator of the least of
his little ones.

"Five bleeding wounds He bears
Received on Calvary ;
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly plead for me ;

* Forgive him, O forgive,' they cry,

* Nor let a ransomed sinner die !' "

III. Then, in the vision, the prophet saw Joshua ar-
rayed in g-arments white and clean. '' I will clothe thee,"
saith the Lord, "with change of raiment." Nor was this
enough. '' Let them set a fair mitre upon his head."
Thus was he encouraged to exercise anew and with in-
creased diligence the functions of his priestly office. The
mitre was the high-priest's glory; (Lev. 8:9). Upon it
was a golden band adorned with blue lace and engraven
with the legend '' Holiness unto the Lord." In the
conferring of this mitre upon the penitent and down-
hearted Joshua we note the final and conclusive touch of
official restoration. *' For this," saith the Lord, " shall be
upon Aaron's forehead ; that he may bear the iniquity of
the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in
all their holy gifts ; and it shall be always upon his fore-
head, that they may be accepted before the Lord." It was
something like what was done for Peter when the Lord,
thrice questioning '' Lovest thou me?" thrice restored
him to the apostolic office — from which his consciousness
of repeated sin had seemed to disqualify him — with the
words, " Feed my sheep." With sins removed, and the
mitre replaced upon his head, with its shining legend
" like the engraving of a signet," he might boldly and
cheerfully resume his official tasks, though the world and
Satan should stand by deriding him.

JOSHUA THE HIGH-PRIEST. 39

In all this, however, Joshua was no more righteous
of himself than before. He must still have known him-
self to be a sinner, but a sinner saved by heavenly grace.
The old rags and tatters were still his by right ; the white
garments were the imputed righteousness of his Lord.
This is the blessedness of the man whom David describ-
eth, "unto whom God imputeth righteousness without
works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are for-
given and whose sins are covered ; blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin;" (Rom. 4: 6-8).

IV. The vision closes with the words of a solemn
compact or covenant, for the seaHng of Joshua's restora-
tion to service. "Thus saith the Lord: If thou wilt walk
in my ways and keep my charge, then thou shalt also
judge my house and keep my courts, and I will give thee
a place to walk among those that stand by." The prom-
ise of perpetual blessing is conditioned on patient contin-
uance in well-doing. To him that hath shall be given.
To use ten talents aright is to be promoted to the govern-
ment of ten cities. He that standeth in his place in the
earthly temple shall be assigned to larger service in the
heavenly courts. Nor shall he fear the adversary. Here
or there — whether it be the pointed finger of a captious
critic or the uplifted hand of Satan — he shall not quail or
tremble before it. The great cloud of witnesses shall not
appal him. He shall have " a place to walk among those
that stand by."

A covenant would scarcely be a covenant were there
no stone of remembrance. In this case the stone that
was laid before Joshua had seven eyes upon it; and the
word " Branch " was given to interpret it. Under this
title the Messiah was frequently mentioned : " In that day
the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious ;"

40 HINTS AND HELPS.

(Isa. 4 : 2, also 1 1 : i ; Jer. 23 : 5, also 33:15; Zech. 6:12;
Luke I : 78, margin). Thus the name of Christ himself is
set as the seal of his covenant with Joshua and his peo-
ple. The seven eyes upon the stone of remembrance tell
of his omniscience. He is ever mindful of those who
faithfully serve him. No doubt there were seasons of
discouragement in the after life of Joshua — times when
difficulties seemed insuperable, when the accusations of
his own conscience echoed the derision of his foes, when
the easier way seemed to be to retire from the work.
Then those seven eyes looked down upon him, and the
Branch of the Lord encouraged him. Oh, it is a glorious
thing to have a covenant with God, and to have it sealed
with the all-prevaihng Name ; to have a stone of remem-
brance as the symbol of its strength, and seven eyes to
speak of an ever-wakeful Providence !

Nor was this all. The word of the Lord came to
Joshua, saying, *' I will remove the iniquity of that land
in one day.'' One day there was that outshone all in the
Jewish calendar — the great Day of Atonement. It was
then that the high-priest entered the Holy of HoHes, not
without blood, to make atonement for the people. One
day there is of which this was but a faint foregleam, the
brightest and most glorious that ever dawned — the day
when Jesus, a priest for ever after the order of Mel-
chizedek, bearing our sins in his own body, lifted the veil
and — not without blood — passed in to make atonement
for all. When the curtain of noonday darkness fell upon
him the east was crimsoned with our morning. The day
broke. Life and immortality were brought to light.

'' In that day saith the Lord shall ye call every man
his neighbor under the vine and under the fig-tree."
Thus did the Lord vouchsafe to Joshua the promise of

JOSHUA THE HIGH-PRIEST. 41

universal peace. It was an earnest of the song that five
hundred years later was to waken the morning stillness of
the Judaean hills, " Glory to God in the highest ; peace
on earth, good-will among men."

And the high-priest heeded the vision. By the side
of Zerubbabel he took his place in the restoration of the
temple. At the altar he ministered for the remission of
the people's sins. A new earnestness had been given to
his life. The years might come and go, but he could
never forget how the man in rags had been clothed in
white and a fair mitre put upon his head ; he could never
forget the covenant, the stone of remembrance, the seven
eyes.

42 HINTS AND HELPS.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.

Zech. 4:1-10.

This is the fifth of Zechariah's nine visions. Its pur-
pose was Hke that of all the others, to encourage the
people, under the leadership of their priest Joshua and
their governor Zerubbabel, to resume the restoration of the
temple. The message which it was intended to convey
was an assurance of God's presence and readiness to help,
and of their utter dependence on him.

I. The Vision.

(i) The prophet saw "a, candlestick all of gold."
This is a familiar figure of the church (Rev. i : 20), the
medium through which God purposes to flood the world
with light. (Matt. 5 : 14-16).

(2) And upon the top of the candlestick was " a
bowl." The light of the Christian Church, like that of
the old-time Theocracy, must be fed continually from the
divine abundance, or else — as when the oil fails in a
lamp — it will flicker and die out. The spiritual oil is the
influence of the Spirit of God. The bowl through which
it is supplied is Christ himself, from whom the Spirit pro-
ceedeth. '' Of his fulness have all we received and grace
for grace." (John i : 16). He is over all, the head of the
church, '* which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth
all in all." (Eph. i : 23).

(3) And from the bowl were seven pipes leading to
the lamps. Not to press the symbolism too far, these

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. 43

avenues of supply may aptly represent all modes of com-
munion with God. Prayer, meditation, study of the
Scriptures, the uplifting of the soul in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, are all viaducts for the impartation of
the Holy Spirit. It is promised that whenever and how-
ever we draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh to us. As
we ask we receive. Our willingness is our capacity. Our
gift of the heavenly influence is measured only by our
wilHngness to receive it. If the tubes communicating
with the bowl are clogged or in anywise unserviceable the
light flames dim and smoky, a stench to the nostrils and a
trial to the eyes. If the lamp is to give light unto all that
are in the house it must be fed. Let the believer, then,
keep close to God, mindful of the trysting-place and the
power of the knees.

(4) And by the side of the bowl were two olive-trees,
one upon the right and the other upon the left. These
stood for Joshua and Zerubbabel, the civil and ecclesiasti-
cal leaders of Israel. (Zech. 4 : 11-14). The vision might
have been complete without them. God could have re-
built the temple without the help of either Joshua or Ze-
rubbabel ; but he chose to use them. He could convert
the world with no respect to human instrumentalities ; but
for some good reason he does not. The oil in the bowl
is pressed from the fruit of the olive-trees. The omnip-
otent Christ seems unwiUing to exert his power in evan-
gelization except as his people " stand by." They must
be willing in the day of his power. There is herein a
strange linking of our petty potencies with the illimitable
energies of the Infinite. God's resources are without
measure ; yet they seem meagre at times, until we replen-
ish- them by saying *^ Give forth!" A mighty honor is
this which is conferred upon the olive-trees.

44 HINTS AND HELPS.

II. The Interpretation.

The prophet was greatly puzzled by this vision ; and
he said to the angel '' What are these?" The interpreta-
tion was given in such form as would be likely to make it
most effective for the enterprise in hand.

First, " This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel :
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the
Lord P' Rulers and people must understand at the out-
set that as God's chosen they were utterly dependent on
him. The prophet Hosea had uttered a similar admoni-
tion two hundred years before, ^'I will have mercy upon
the house of Judah, and will save them, not by bow, nor
by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses or horsemen, but
by the Lord their God." (Ho. i : 7). And five hundred
years later the Lord appeared to the apostle Paul and
girded him with the same truth, " My grace is sufficient
for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness."
(2 Cor. 12:9). It is true for every man, in every age.
Not with a strong right arm can we make our spiritual
livelihood ; not with a mighty intellect can we plan and
execute the purposes of a holy life. The Spirit of the
living God must quicken, energize, inspire. If he be with
us, our strength is indeed made perfect in weakness ; if
he be with us who shall be against us ?

Second. The vision was interpreted to mean that dif-
ficulties should not block the way. At this time the
princes of the neighboring tribes were doing their utmost
to hinder the work ; but they should not prevail. " Who
art thou, O great mountain ? Before Zerubbabel thou
shalt become a plain !" All hindrances should disappear,
as the highest of the Andes will crumble at the last when
God shall touch it with his almighty hand. Nothing, is
too hard for him. Kings and potentates are no more to

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. 45

him than grasshoppers in the pathway of an advancing
army. Do they cry, '' Let us break his bands asunder
and cast away his cords from us" ? He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall have them in derision.
(Psalm 2). It is the Lord that hfteth up and that casteth
down. Mountains and molehills are alike to him.

Third. The vision gave as^rance of the ultimate com-
pletion of the temple. The work had languished for
years. Successive relays of workmen had taken up the
trowel and laid it down. But as to the final issue there
was no shadow of doubt : the headstone was to be brought
forth and laid in its place with shoutings of '^ Grace,
grace unto it !" And this was to be done under the ex-
isting administration. ^' Thus saith the Lord, The hands
of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house ; his
hands shall also finish it." The author shall be the finish-
er. And if stronger assurance were needed, the covenant
with its stone of remembrance must give it. Again those
seven eyes ! The stone with the seven eyes upon it
should be a monument of the divine veracity and faithful-
ness. That stone of remembrance — the token of the
covenant, the symbol of Messiah's strength and wisdom —
should itself be the headstone of the corner. (Psa. ? 1 18 : 22;
Matt. 21 142). Let not the people be disheartened in the
day of small things — the clearing away of rubbish heaps,
the hewing of timber, the laying of one granite block on
another. Let them rather rejoice because the plummet
is in the hand of Zerubbabel and the stone of remem-
brance with its seven eyes is beside him. ''And these,"
said the angel, '' are the eyes of the Lord which run to
and fro through the whole earth !" The day of great
things was coming. The people would assemble in ful-
ness of time to the dedication of the temple. The top-

46 HINTS AND HELPS.

Stone of the corner would be laid v/ith the voice of thanks-
giving, and the mountains round about Jerusalem would
ring with shoutings of ^^Grace, grace unto it !"

This was the vision and this the interpretation there-
of It carried strength and courage to the heart of Ju-
dah. Has it no present blessing for us ?

III. Practical.

We are living in the dispensation of the Spirit. Our
Lord has breathed upon us saying, " Receive ye the Holy
Ghost." If spiritual success under the Old Economy was
hypothecated upon the working of the Spirit, how much
more in the New. The Church is the organism through
which the Spirit is working towards the restitution of all
things. It was the infant church at Pentecost that re-
ceived the unspeakable gift. The sound of the rushing
wind, the gift of tongues, the flame upon the forehead
were for us. If we have them not it is because we will
not have them. If our work languishes, like a temple
with half-finished walls, it is because, in default of willing-
ness to be blest, the heart has gone out of us.

A prophet once standing by the river Chebar saw a
striking figure of the church (Ezekiel i). It was a mech-
anism of wheels ; a fire infolding itself, and wheels within
wheels ; and the wheels were full of eyes. And living
creatures stood round about ; at their going the air was
resonant with the rustle of wings and a voice was heard
like the roar of ocean. And within the mechanism there
was a Spirit, the motive Power : so that whithersoever
the Spirit was to go the wheels went ; they went straight
forward, for the living Spirit was in them. The history of
the Christian Church is the record of a mysterious Power
working through human agencies. For lack of appre-

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. 47

hension at this point Hume and Gibbon were at their wits'
end. They could write history, but they could not under-
stand it. They saw the wheels, they heard the sound of
their going ; but they perceived not the Spirit that was in
them.

The eleven who knelt at Pentecost to receive the
baptism of fire and power went forth thus endued to revo-
lutionize and conquer the world. Had that been told to
Caesar how he would have laughed. But where is he ?

** Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay.
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away."

But the Church — the mechanism of wheels moved by the
Spirit, the eleven under the baptism of fire —

*' Unshaken as the eternal hills,
Immovable she stands ;
A mountain that shall fill the earth,
A house not made with hands."

The Church is the one great power in history. It
has grown like a mustard seed from the day of small
things. To-day it is carrying bread and water to the
famishing, and light to such as sit in darkness and the
shadow of death. Its influence is inexplicable on any ex-
cept supernatural grounds. It is animated by the breath
of the Ommipotent. The Spirit is in the wheels.

At every point of Christian faith and life we are de-
pendent on this influence. If we grieve the Spirit by
unwitting slight we suffer for it. If we quench the Spirit
by rejection we die for it.

(i) Our life begins with the operation of the Spirit in
the new birth. It is his function to reveal God, his to
convince of sin, his to take of the things of Jesus and show
them unto us. Regeneration is a mystery ; it is none the

48 HINTS AND HELPS.

less a tremendous fact. The destiny of the soul hinges
upon it. Except a man be born of water (that is cleansing
from sin) and of the Spirit (that is unto newness of life)
he shall in no wise see the kingdom of God.

(2) Our sanctification, also, is through the Spirit.
Life is structural. In the Scriptures the higher Hfe is
frequently likened to the building of a temple. The word
'' edification " means literally temple-building. The moral
constitution of the believer — heart, conscience, brain, self —
is said to be a temple for the indwelling of the Spirit
of God. To make it so we must have the Spirit's help.
He must teach us to pray. He must open our eyes that
we may behold wonderful things out of God's word. He
must so commend to us our pains and sorrows as that we
shall be duly exercised thereby. It is thus that character
grows ; and only thus that we attain unto the full stature
of manhood in Christ, Nor is this influence forced upon
us. We are free to grieve the Spirit. The lichen that
clings to the wall is as thirsty as the lily of the valley ; but
it makes no sign when the dew falls, while the lily swings
a censer of fragrance in return for it. The dull nature
that will not be blessed may have its way ; but the truest
man, in whom is greatest fulness of life, is he who opens
every avenue and bids the Spirit enter. A symmetrical
character comes in no other way. Except the Lord build
the house they labor in vain that build it.

(3) And our success in Christian service is condi-
tioned in the same way. If we have really cast in our
fortunes with the Son of God we are concerned above all
things for the triumph of his cause and kingdom. To
worship in his courts is our delight. The sound of the
rushing, mighty wind which betokens a revival of earnest-
ness among his people is sweeter than all music to our

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. 49

ears. And when souls come to salvation as doves that
flock to their windows, ah, that is as if the Master himself
were walking past ! But these things are nothing to us
unless his Spirit animates us. We are like ships becalmed
at sea, while other ships go sailing past in the distance
bearing the commerce of the world. Becalmed ! Come
from the four winds, O Breath, and breathe upon us !
Then shall God's kingdom be more to us than all king-
doms and principalities, and with diligence shall we set
our hands to the stones of the wall.

If any Christian is without the power of the Spirit it
is his own fault. The promise is large and free. If earthly
parents know how to give good things to their children,
how much more shall your Father which is in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Do we want
the Spirit ? Let us ask. Were a lad of ours, returning
from a far country, to come staggering to our door fam-
ished and gasping for bread, would we refuse him? No
more will our Heavenly Father refuse us the unspeakable
gift. At this moment, reader of these words, the Spirit is
waiting to come in.

"Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can
meet;
Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.^'

Enter, O Spirit of the living God ; enter, and fully and
forevermore possess thine own !

50 HINTS AND HELPS.

DEDICATING THE TEMPLE.

Ezra 6:14-22.

At last !

The rebuilding of the Temple had been commenced
B. C. 534. In the following year the work was suspended,
and, except for brief and ineffective efforts at considerable
intervals, was not resumed until B. C. 520. After four
years of continuous effort it was finished B. C. 516. Thus
for a period of eighteen years the work dragged its slow
length along. And all so needlessly ! Had the people
been like-minded with the Lord there would have been
no trembling in fear of their adversaries, no misgivings as
to the outcome, no turning aside to secular pursuits, and
so no dreary intervals of sloth. But they topk counsel of
themselves and tarried, while God stood by waiting until
they should be willing in the day of his power.

We are ever hindering our work in like manner.
Life would be an unbroken series of successes if God
could have his way with us. But being strong of our-
selves and wise in our own conceit we insist on the full
length of our tether. Thus we botch everything, make
mountains of mole-hills, see ghosts in twilight shadows,
jostle one another in headlong panic, tread upon our own
heels, lengthen a morning walk into a wilderness journey,
pray listlessly, sing mechanically, and cry with unction if
not with reason, " How long, O Lord, how long !" He
waits until we shall be reasonable. Faith is the most
reasonable thing in the world. The goal appears when-
ever we can say, " Lord, I believe.^'

So at last the Temple was ready for its topstone.
After fourteen years of dallying, four years of diligence

DEDICATING THE TEMPLE. 5 I

were enough to finish it. Faith and works cooperated.
Either without the other is dead as a marble image of
Psyche. There is a mighty truth in the homely maxim,
*^ Trust in God and keep your powder dry." True faith
never sits trem.bling and lamenting ; it rolls up its sleeves
and materializes its hopes. In all our temple building —
whether the fabric be personal character or God's king-
dom on earth — we speed or tarry as we will. Four years
are better than fourteen, if we wish them so. We pray
"Thy kingdom come," but when would we have it? A
hundred years hence when we are dead and gone ? Why
not straightway ? If God's people were in earnest, wield-
ing the trowel as they pray, and always trusting God,
there is no reason within human ken why the kingdom
should not come in a twelvemonth. We make our own
delays. The Lord's chariot is at his door ; we shall hear
it rumbhng this way whenever our faith and diligence
shall have cast up the highways. Therefore, as we gather
to-day with these Israelites at the dedication of their tem-
ple, let us highly resolve that our only tarrying shall be
upon our knees, and that our only waiting shall be ex-
pectant waiting on the Lord. For they that wait only
upon him shall renew their strength. ''They shall mount
up with wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.''

We are here advised as to the accessories by which
the builders of the Temple, when once they showed a dis-
position to work, were enabled to succeed. And as the
same are available for all believers, it will be worth while
to notice them.

First, God was with them. It is written, ''They fin-
ished the work according to the commandment (rather,
the decree) of the God of Israel." All along he had been

52 HINTS AND HELPS.

predisposed in their behalf. We, also, are exhorted to
work out our own salvation (the word '' salvation " being
used in its larger sense as inclusive of all things that enter
into the fulness of spiritual life) because it is God that
worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good
pleasure. Not only had God decreed the building of the
Temple, he had prescribed the minutest details of its con-
struction. In like manner we are under his direction and
control in everything pertaining to our spiritual growth,
our service in the fellowship of faith, and our relations
with his kingdom every way.

Second, The children of Israel were '' prospered
through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and
Zechariah the son of Iddo." God was pleased to com-
municate with them through his ordained servants. Hag-
gai was an old man whose strength lay largely in admo-
nition. Zechariah was younger, more inclined to the
dreaming of hopeful dreams and the seeing of bright vis-
ions. Now one spoke and then the other, as occasion
required. It has pleased God to endow his ministers with
divers gifts. There are so many voices and none of
them is without signification. There are diversities oi
gifts, but it is the same Spirit, and there are differences of
administration, but it is the same Lord, (i Cor. 12:4).
The word of God thus administered is for our edification,
for our admonition and encouragement. If we lose cour-
age or lay down the trowel to turn to the plow, then let
the prophets cry aloud and spare not. God could have
wrought without Haggai and Zechariah ; to-day, if he
were so minded, he could demit his ministers and accom-
plish his purposes without them. But he prefers other-
wise. The ministers of the people are ordained to bring
them up to an adequate sense of their privilege and re-

DEDICATING THE TEMPLE. 53

sponsibility and to keep them there. And, if faithful to
their trust, they are held in honor as the seven stars that
shine in the Lord's signet. (Rev. i : 16).

Third, The Israelites were encouraged by the favor-
able attitude of temporal princes. '^They builded accord-
ing to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Arta-
xerxes." These were all Zoroastrians, but God used
them. They were more or less unwitting instruments in
the accomplishment of his designs. So are all kings and
potentates. Whether they will or not, they serve him.
Cyrus, though he bowed in the temple of Ormuzd, was
called Jehovah's ''servant." (Isa. 44: 26). In His hand
are the hearts of kings as the rivers of water. Pharaoh
was made to show forth His power. (Rom. 9: 17). Pi-
late bore testimony to the doctrine of His incarnation.
(Luke 23 : 4). The mighty ones all grace his triumph,
some at the ropes, others at the chariot wheels. A
blessed truth and full of consolation is this to all believers.
For there are times when the enemy cometh in as a flood
and the air is thick with flying arrows. But God knows.
His aegis, though we see it not, is over us like a pavilion,
and our place of defence is the munition of rocks. No
fortress could hold us so securely as the assurance of his
love. Our trials and adversities, that seem like robbers
and assassins hiding among the clefts, are made to walk
beside us as our escort to heaven's gate. Surely, O Lord,
the wrath of men shall praise thee, and the remainder of
wrath shalt thou restrain. (Psa. 76 : 10).

Thus it was that the children of Israel completed the
restoration of their temple. Now we are come to witness
its dedication. It was on the third day of the month
Adar, *' the month of splendor," so called because of the
brightness of its suns and the beauty of its flowers. This

54 HINTS AND HELPS.

was the third of the great dedications. The Tabernacle
of the wilderness had been dedicated more than a thou-
sand years before, on the first day of the first month,
B. C. 1652. Solomon's temple had been dedicated al-
most five hundred years before, on the fifteenth day of
the seventh month, B. C. 1007. The magnificent cere-
monies of that day were handed down as a dream of un-
surpassable glory. How paltry must the present pomp
and pageantry have seemed by contrast ! Nevertheless,
on this occasion there was no lack of rejoicing. '' They
kept the dedication of this house with joy.''

(i) A hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, and four
hundred lambs were offered in sacrifice ; '' and for a sin-
offering twelve he-goats for all Israel." There is some-
thing pathetic in the mention of these he-goats. Ten of
the twelve tribes, having cut themselves loose from their
brethren, had Httle or no part in the building of this
temple ; but they were remembered, and a place in the
sin-offering was sacredly reserved for them. It was as
when mothers set vacant chairs for their absent wayward
sons on Thanksgiving day. Whatever might happen,
the religious unity of Israel must be preserved. They
were one " chosen people." Their political divisions had
indeed been obliterated by the captivity, and there was
no reason why they should not reassemble at one altar, an
altar of twelve stones '' according to the number of the
sons of Jacob." (i Kings 18:31). In like manner the
Church of Jesus Christ, hov/ever parted asunder by the
controversies of the past, should be at one in the- work of
the kingdom and in the rejoicings of the triumph of Christ.
For, conceding the necessity of diversity in opinion and
polity, we have still and evermore '' one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of us all."^'

DEDICATING THE TEMPLE. 55

(2) Moreover, at this dedication the ancient order of
service was restored. '' The priests were set in their di-
visions and the Levites in their courses for the service of
God." There was no attempt at needless innovation.
The assignments of the priests and Levites dated back to
the time of Moses (Numb. 5 : 6-10), and nothing had
occurred to abrogate them. A thousand years of usage
had fastened them upon the nation's heart. It does not
follow that because a custom is old it is obsolete. Prayer
is as old as human want, Hke the air we breathe, and
time can make no improvement upon it. No man of
means can afford to wear a threadbare or cast-off gar-
ment. The church must be abreast of the age. So must
every Christian. But in laying aside the garments that
have kept us warm on winter days let us be sure we do
not bare ourselves to wind and frost ; and let the church,
in keeping up with the times, take heed lest she get be-
fore the pillar of cloud and fire. Our progress can never
be too rapid if only God leads the way.

It should be observed that the Feast of the Passover
was among the venerable customs which were revived at
this dedication. It wais a foreshadowing of the Atone-
ment of Christ, without which all other pomp and circum-
stance of service are a dumb show. A church without
Christ is a house without a foundation. A prayer with-
out Christ is as vain as the cry, " O Baal, hear us !" A
life without Christ falls short of all its best privileges and
possibilities. In whatever else we fail let us keep the
Passover ; of whatever else we may be ignorant, let us
know Christ and him crucified.

It is significant that, whereas the previous record
(from chap. 4 : 8) was in the Chaldee language, the He-
brew is resumed at this point. The story of the Captivity,

56 HINTS AND HELPS.

when God's face seemed to be hidden from his people,
might well be written in a foreign tongue, but the Cap-
tivity ends with the resumption of the Passover. Christ
breaks the Babylonish chains, and the prisoner comes
forth singing his deliverance in the language of Canaan.
The moment the soul is made vitally acquainted with
him, its prison-doors are opened. He is the free man
whom the Son makes free.

(3) Then the rejoicing. *'And they kept the Feast
of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy ; for the Lord
had made them joyful." There are stolen pleasures which
leave behind them a remorseful pain. There is a laughter
which is as the crackling of thorns. But blessed are they
whom the Lord maketh joyful ! The springs of all true
pleasure are in him. '' Happiness," wrote Pascal, ''is nei-
ther within us nor without us ; it is the union of ourselves
with God." It was meet that the return of the chosen
people to their first love should be celebrated with feast-
ing and merry-making. The occasion was signalized by
the introduction of the Hallelujah Psalms. (Psa. 146-150).
''Praise ye the Lord!" they sang, while the sanctuary
echoed with clash of cymbal and blast of trumpet.
" Praise ye the Lord ! He looseth the prisoners ; he
raiseth up them that are bowed down ; he preserveth the
strangers ; he exalteth the horn of his people ; he shall
reign for ever ! Praise ye the Lord !"

We too are temple-builders. In the making of char-
acter we lay grace upon grace as masons lay stone upon
stone. And in the broader work of uprearing the king-
dom of righteousness on earth, we also, unless we are
mere cumberers, have a place of usefulness assigned to us.
Let us learn, while the songs of happy Israel still linger
in our ears, that all depends on God. In vain is our

DEDICATING THE TEMPLE. 57

planning and our striving without him. With his bless-
ing all things, even the gins and snares of the enemy,
shall be made to work together for us.

'* Not as we thought ; but what are we !
Above our broken dreams and plans
God lays, with wiser hands than man's,
The corner-stone of things to be."

And at last the joy of the Lord, as of those that tread the
vintage, shall be ours. We shall keep the Passover in
the heavenly courts, and remember the years of our Cap-
tivity as a dream when one awaketh. Serve the Lord,
therefore, with gladness, O ye people ! Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
For the mercy of the Lord is everlasting ; his truth en-
dureth unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord !

58 HINTS AND HELPS.

NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER.

Nehemiah i:i-ii.

It is now seventy years since that memorable day
when the restored temple was dedicated with sacrifice
and song. Seventy years are a long time, the full life-
time of a man. The returned exiles who had settled in
Jerusalem should have accomplished much in seventy
years. Those were times when men and nations were
making their mark. In Persia the great Xerxes had
made himself an immortal name. Rome had just come
under the military tribunes. Greece was on her way to
national glory. Socrates was teaching in Athens. The
news of Marathon and Thermopylae was fresh from the
heralds' lips. In a period of such universal progress we
should expect to hear that the Judaean colony had made
great forward strides. But not so. They had in many
particulars improved their personal estate, but the walls
and gates of the city were still in ruins. In those times a
city unprotected by walls was open to every foe. The
homes of Jerusalem were exposed to constant danger,
and at any moment its temple might be looted by the
neighboring idolatrous tribes. This was a sad state of
affairs, and it was due probably to the fact that every
man in Israel had been looking to his own welfare ; for
the love of gain dwelt in the Jewish breast then as now.
A flourishing trade had been established with other na-
tions; there were stalls for Phoenician fishermen and
booths for traders from Tyre. So much of the open
spaces near the gates had been cleared away as was neces-
sary for the marketing of figs and grapes and the harvests

NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER. 59

that were gathered from the fertile slopes of the surround-
ing hills. But otherwise the rubbish heaps remained.
The colony seemed lacking in all patriotic esprit. It
yielded without a murmur to Persian requisitions of men
for the army and money for their support. Nor did the
encroachments of their petty neighbors awake them to
measures of vigilance. They submitted to pillage ; they
saw their countrymen borne away into slavery and offered
no resistance worthy of the name. The dangers of life in
Jerusalem were so notorious that it was regarded as an
evidence of great heroism to continue there. Most of the
families had resorted to their ancestral allotments in the
country round about. At length men had to be chosen
by lot to reside in the city. '*And the people blessed all
the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell in
Jerusalem."

It would have been a comparatively easy matter to
repair the walls; but, apart from money-getting, these
people were greatly given to inertia. They were always
so. God must sound his trumpet on the hills to rally
them. To-day their children, the Russian Jews, are de-
porting themselves in the same way. The love of per-
sonal gain is their most conspicuous feature. Loyal to
their ancestral traditions, persistent, indomitable, patient,
phlegmatic, though the sympathy of the whole earth is
with them, they would rather fly than fight. The wor-
ship of God remains even to-day — for wherever Jews are
found they are monotheists — but the walls of Jerusalem
are as neglected as ever. They are a devout, defenceless
people, plucked and plundered and wronged and perse-
cuted. The world over they are the same people they
were when they dwelt in their unprotected city two thou-
sand five hundred years ago.

6o HINTS AND HELPS.

The man who, in this instance, appeared as their de-
Hverer was cup-bearer to Artaxerxes the king of Persia.
This was an office of great honor and responsibiUty, cor-
responding in a measure to that of our American Secre-
tary of State. It was about as high as a man could aspire
without fixing his eye on the throne itself Nehemiah,
therefore, having the temperament of a Jew, should have
been content; but he was not. Selfishness had not yet
taken entire possession of him. He had ''a soul above
buttons." On being made aware of the condition of
things at Jerusalem he could not rest until he had devised
some plan of betterment. The knowledge was brought,
as we are informed, by '* Hanani and certain men of
Judah." These had been at Jerusalem with their breth-
ren, and for some reason, most likely on a commercial
errand, had returned to Persia. On being questioned as
to affairs in the Holy City, they related all : how the re-
turned captives were ''in great affliction and reproach,"
how the ruined walls and gates were still unrestored.

Josephus gives a more circumstantial account of this
interview. He says that while Nehemiah was walking
about the courts of the Persian palace his attention was
drawn to a group of persons speaking in the Hebrew
tongue. On addressing them he found that they were
recently from Jerusalem, and that one of them, Hanani,
was his kinsman. Leading them to a secluded place, he
drew from them the whole lamentable story. From that
moment he could not rest. He was inexpressibly shocked
and grieved. He had previously supposed that his
countrymen in the distant colony were prosperous and
happy ; and lo, they were in great affliction and reproach.
He could not sleep for thinking of it. He "sat down and
wept and mourned and fasted certain days." If that were

NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER. 6l

all, his sympathy and painful solicitude would have
gone for naught; but ^* he prayed before the God of
heaven."

" Is any among you afflicted ? Let him pray," says
the apostle. (James 5:13.) In all times of sorrow and
adversity this is the divinely appointed way of relief To
your knees, O mourner ! Spend not your time in fruit-
less lamentations, but take hold upon the strength of Him
who is a refuge from the storm and a shadow from the
heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm
against the wall. How many a soul has found daybreak
in the trysting-place ! How many a despairing one has
lifted up his voice to the Omnipotent, hke a strangling
swimmer calling for help, and has sung his thanksgiving
afterward as David did, '' This poor man cried ; and the
Lord heard him and saved him out of all his trouble !"

But if this be true of sorrow on one's own account,
how much more surely will God hear the petitioner who
pleads for others. For selfishness in prayer is no more
comely than anywhere else. The royal cup-bearer had
all that could ordinarily minister to comfort and pros-
perity. Why was he not satisfied to let well enough
alone ? He had never been at Jerusalem, and the colo-
nists there were strangers to him. But it was the city of
his fathers, and they were his brethren, v/herefore his
heart went out towards them. Would that we all were
as solicitous for the welfare of the whole household of
faith!

This man was a layman. He might easily have
shifted the responsibihty for the present condition of
things upon the priests and Levites, on whom God had
particularly devolved the religious interests of Jewry.
But laymen then were no more absolved from such re-

62 HINTS AND HELPS.

sponsibility than are laymen in these days. Indeed, some
of the affairs of Zion belong distinctively to them. We
lament over the declensions of the church ; even our min-
isters are not always above the suspicion of having
abandoned the landmarks of faith. They continue the
services of the altar ; but alas ! in such a case the walls are
down and the gates open to the enemy. Then let God's
laymen rally ! Never yet was Zion safely left to her priests
alone. There is always something for Nehemiah to do.
In many a stress of the tempest in past ecclesiastical his-
tory the prayers and efforts of laymen and laywomen
standing on the headlands have brought the vessel safe
to land.

The prayer of Nehemiah in this instance is given
doubtless for our guidance. It is a model of supplication
in many ways. Observe

First, its reverent spirit. It . begins with adoration :
^' O Jehovah, God of heaven, the great and terrible God,
that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him !"
In our eagerness to present our requests at the throne of
the heavenly grace there is always danger of precipita-
tion. It must not be forgotten that we are approaching
the Infinite. Do men rush headlong with their petitions
into the audience-chambers of earthly kings? The Lord —
however we may draw near in holy boldness — sitteth upon
a throne high and lifted up. He is our Creator ; we are,
in comparison with him, no better than ants or insects or
motes flying in a sunbeam. Therefore a reverent humil-
ity becomes us.

Second, Nehemiah makes confession of his sins: ^* We
have sinned against thee; both I and my father's house
have sinned." The blind man was not far from right in
saying, ^' God heareth not sinners ; but if any man doeth

NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER. 63

his will, him he heareth.'' (John 9: 31.) We must put
aside our iniquities on the instant of approach. Confes-
sion is the laying off of the beggar's rags ; pardon is the
putting on of the best robe ; then the suppHant stands
clothed as a son before God. This cup-bearer knew that
sin lay at the bottom of all Israel's troubles. For the sins
of his fathers they had been led into captivity; for the
sins of those now dwelling at Jerusalem their walls were
still in ruins. It is an easy thing, however, to confess the
sins of one's fathers and of kinsmen a thousand miles
away. But Nehemnah did not so content himself: ''Both
I and my father's house have sinned" Spurgeon says,
'' He spelled 'we' with an 'I' in it." His own transgres-
sions and shortcomings loomed up before him. He felt
that he himself, though so far away, was not without
blame for the afflictions of Zion.

Third, observe his confidence in the divine word.
This was the prayer of faith. He casts himself upon the
promises of God which are evermore Yea and Amen.
He ventures to particularize : he puts God in remem-
brance of a certain covenant which he had been pleased
to make long before with Moses his servant in behalf of
his people. The terms of this covenant are gathered
from various passages of ancient Scripture, showing that
Nehemiah was no novice in the Word of God. Bible-
lovers make the most successful petitioners. Here is the
covenant referred to : "/ will scatter you abroad among
the nations ; but if ye turn unto me and keep my com-
mandments and do them-, though there were of you cast
out tcnto the uttermost part of the heave?i, yet will I gather
them from thence and bring the7n unto the place where I
have chosen to set Tuy name!'' (Lev. 26:27-45; Deut.
28 : 45-67 ; also 30 : i-io.) A glorious word of promise,

64 HINTS AND HELPS.

that, for a nation of stiff-necked exiles ! And the fact that
on the part of the people themselves this covenant had
been broken does not prevent Nehemiah from putting
God in remembrance of it ; for he knows that God is of
long-suffering and tender mercy. We also have personal
covenants with him respecting our loved ones ; and at
times our hearts misgive us because we have come so far
short of their conditions ; but let us plead on and hold up
the blessed parchment before our Father's eyes. He
knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.
He is not an exacting taskmaster. The man who puts an
utmost confidence in His word of promise has discovered
where the strength of God lieth. Faith at the mercy-seat
conquers all.

Fourth, the prayer of Nehemiah was specific. He
purposed going into the presence of Artaxerxes himself
to plead for his people. In so doing he might endanger
his own tenure of office and injure the cause which he
desired to promote. Oriental sovereigns were largely
guided by caprice. God must be with him. He could
not succeed otherwise. To this end he pleads, " O Lord,
prosper thy servant and give him mercy in the sight of
this man." It is the part of wisdom to enter upon all
enterprises with prayer. A Roman general would not
• march to battle until he had first offered a sacrifice. A
right apprehension of this principle would keep us al-
ways in the spirit of prayer, because no man can esti-
mate the importance of any act. The least thing we do
may have momentous and eternal issues. Therefore " pray
without ceasing" is our safe motto. Nehemiah trembled
when he thought of his coming interview with Artaxerxes ;
so would we if we knew the far-reaching results of com-
monplace events in our daily life. He fortified himself

NEHEMIAH^S PRAYER. 6$

with prayer ; so let us every moment — for every m.oment
we stand at the threshold of a King greater than Arta-
xerxes — be prdylng, " God be with us !" We cannot go
up hence except the Lord be with us.

Fifth, this prayer was followed by the use of appro-
priate means. Nehemiah went in unto the king and was
graciously received. The first words that greeted his
request were, *' For how long shall thy journey be; and
when wilt thou return ?" The way was opened and
m.eans were furnished, and when we next see Nehemiah
he will be at Jerusalem leading the workmen in the re-
building of the walls. There is a sense in which God ex-
pects us to help answer our own prayers. The man who
prays for bread and then sits idle expecting loaves to fall
before him, is likely to die hungry. But if he will go out
into the fields and sow the seed, and harrow and reap and
garner it, and carry the grain to mill, and bring it home
again and knead and bake it, he will have bread in an-
swer to his prayer. And it will be just as really from
God as if he had suddenly awakened and found it lying
at his feet.

Thus we perceive in Nehemiah's prayer all the essen-
tial parts of true devotion ; to wit, adoration, confession,
faith, specific petition, and the proper use of means. But,
after all, the form of prayer is a matter of minor consid-
eration. It is not so important that we should know the
set phrases and due order as that we should want some-
thing and mean what we say.

'' Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near."

Hints and Helps 5

66 HINTS AND HELPS.

It is comforting to know that our Father^s ear is open to
the cry — even the inarticulate cry — of his children. A
woman once came to the temple in bitterness of soul and
knelt there, moving her lips but making no sound. Great
was her desire, yet she uttered not a word. And the
Lord answered her and '' granted the petition that she
had asked of him." (i Sam. 1:9-18.) Oh he is the
kindest and most considerate of friends! He takes the
will for the deed. He cares more for the wordless sob of
a returning prodigal than for the Pharisee's longest and
loudest supplication. When our groanings cannot be
uttered his own Spirit maketh intercession for us. Pray,
therefore ; pray earnestly, trustfully, importunately. Pray
without ceasing. '' More things are wrought by prayer
than this world dreams of"

REBUILDING THE WALL. 67

REBUILDING THE WALL.

Nehemiah 4:9-21.

The Lord's servant, like a king's herald, must put
spurs to his horse. Duty is as imperative as the divine
seal can make it. Nehemiah had no sooner received per-
mission to go to Jerusalem than he arose and went. On
reaching his destination he did not disclose his inten-
tions at once, but kept his eyes open. The third night
after his arrival he made the circuit of the city, alone, by
moonlight. His heart was oppressed by the desolation
on every side. Three words told the story: ^'Jerusalem
lieth waste!" The walls were shattered and breached,
the gateways open, the streets littered with ruins and
rubbish-heaps.

A man of small faith or timid purpose would have
been disheartened at the outset. Not so Nehemiah.
Calling the rulers of the city together, he related what he
had seen, and said, "Up, let us build!'* There was in-
spiration in his very presence. This was the Chief Coun-
sellor of the great Artaxerxes who had come to encourage
them. There was no withstanding his infectious cour-
age and enthusiasm. ''And the people said, Let us
rise up and build !" No sooner said than done. Word
was sent to the ham.lets and villages; the able-bodied men
of Judah came hastening in ; they were properly divided
and assigned to work. Hammer and trowel awoke the
echoes of Gihon and Olivet. Merrily the hearts of the
masons and burden-carriers responded to their leaders'
hopeful words, and for a brief season all went well.

But only for a season. No holy purpose ever yet

68 HINTS AND HELPS.

went unchallenged to its fulfilment. The neighboring
tribes and peoples were moved with jealousy. Their
fathers had told them of the former days when Jerusalem
was a tower of strength, and who could tell the outcome
of the restoration of her ruined walls? The movement
was a menace to their own welfare and local supremacy.
They must arrest it.

First they tried laughter. (Neh. 4 : 1-3.) Two of
these enemies — Sanballat, a Moabitish chief, and Tobiah,
a renegade Jew who held some petty office among the
Samaritans — made themselves especially conspicuous in
this way. The former wagged his head and looked as-
kance, saying, ''What do these feeble Jews? Are they
getting ready for a holocaust? or dp they call those
things fortifications ? Will they revive the stones out of
the rubbish and ash-heaps ?" And Tobiah gayly re-
sponded, '' Yes, and when their ramparts are done, if a
fox go up he shall break them down !" So they had their
sport at the expense of the busy workmen. But he laughs
best who laughs last.

God's people at work on the walls of Zion are con-
tinually told that it is no use ; they shall have their labor
for their pains ; the church is losing its grip ; missions
are a failure. '' You have been at work on an unregen-
erate world for eighteen centuries, and with what re-
sult? Look at the ruins and rubbish-heaps that remain.
There are twelve hundred millions of pagans still !
Leave off your Quixotic dreams. Be fools no longer.
Go back to your vineyards and wheat-fields !" And oc-
casionally the voice of some pessimistic Christian — as
false to his lineage as the renegade Tobiah — echoes the
Horonite's derision. But the work continues on the walls
of Jerusalem. The light of the gospel spreads afar, and

REBUILDING THE WALL. 69

the Church of Jesus Christ shall yet be the joy of the
whole earth.

The fingers of all Rome and Jewry were pointed at
the eleven men — humble, uncultured, and penniless — who
came out of the upper chamber with high purposes of
universal evangelization ; but they separated to their sev-
eral tasks, and each of them has multiplied himself into a
million many times. A hundred years ago William
Carey was dubbed ''the consecrated cobbler" for propo-
sing the evangelization of India, but to-day all Christen-
dom delights to do him honor. God crowns the heroism
that can face an epithet. He may permit Sanballat and
Tobiah to have their joke, but his throne is in Jerusalem
and her walls are his especial care. The laughter of his
impious foes who would break his bands asunder is ever
turned into wailing. He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh !

All efforts at political or social betterment are met in
the same manner. The Temperance Reform, thank God,
has lived down laughter. The movement in behalf of
Sabbath Observance is getting past it. When our Senate
and House of Representatives unite in demanding the
closing of the gates of the Columbian Fair on the Lord's
day, the Sanballats and Tobiahs of newspaper and ros-
trum begin to look serious and cast about for better weap-
ons than flings at Puritanism. And so it goes. In every
enterprise that touches truth and righteousness ridicule
must have its day.

The same is true of the rebuilding of personal char-
acter. One would suppose that when a poor wretch sees
the error of his ways and resolves on better things all his
fellows would applaud him ; but they always do the other
thing. They chaff him, deride him, m.ake sport of him.

70 HINTS AND HELPS.

'^ What 's the use ? A glass wont hurt you. Going to let
your wife get the upper hand, eh ? Join the Holy Club ?
Oh come on !'' It is hard work to rebuild the walls of
manhood out of the rubbish-heaps of mislived years while
old comrades stand by pointing their fingers and cracking
jokes, but by God's grace it can be done. It has been
done ten thousand times and more, is being done by
brave men everywhere to-day.

Secondly, the opposition to the rebuilding of the walls
of Jerusalem assumed the form of threatening. The ene-
mies of the workmen said, '' What is this that ye do ?
Will ye rebel against the king?" (Neh. 2:19.) They
proposed to inform Artaxerxes of what was going on.
The construction of a fortification like this was a menace
to the Persian Empire. They were trusted officers of the
king and their word would doubtless have weight with
him. Rebellion was a capital offence. The Jews had
tasted the edge of Persian retribution more than once.
Well might they tremble now. But they did not tremble,
because God was their helper and was with them.

A good work is always in the realm of danger, be-
cause it is in the nature of lese majesty, rebellion against
the prince of this world. An active and aggressive Chris-
tian is never left unwarned. A reformer never goes scot
free. The time for crying. Off with his head ! is past,
but there are other ways of reaching the same end. Loss
of business or of social standing; ostracism, like that
which teachers under the Freedmen's Bureau suffered
after the war ; political decapitation, like that which some
men endure for their religious principles — these are some
of the moral boycotts and penalties which a true man is
ever called upon to confront in the discharge of duty. It
takes a full-grown man — one of God's men — to stand up

REBUILDING THE WALL. 7 1

against them. To be afraid of the devil is the vice of
a fetich-worshipper ; to fear God only is the part of a .
Christian. The only real danger in this world is that one
may fall short of duty.

On one occasion an effort was made to terrify Nehe-
miah by reporting that the enemy was at the gates. A
miserable coward named Shemaiah ventured to admonish
him, saying, " Let us to the temple and shut the doors,
for they will slay thee !" His answer is worthy of a
place among the golden words of heroism : '' Should such
a man as I flee ? Who is there that being in my case
would flee to the temple to save his life ? I will not go !"
There are times when a man's place is in the temple, but
not when God has called him to the wall.

All possible devices were used to drive this devoted
leader and his workmen from their appointed task. Alli-
ances were formed against them. Messages were sent
from distant parts of the colony saying to the workmen,
'' Return ; you are wanted at home." Bribery was em-
ployed. No scheme was left untried ; and still the work
went on.

Then, thirdly, the enemy proposed a compromise.
A message was sent by Sanballat and Tobiah, " Come,
let us meet together in some one of the villages in the
plain of Ono." (Neh. 6 : 2.) Four several times they so-
licited a conference on this manner ; only to be met by
the effective rebuff", ^' I am doing a great work, so that I
cannot come down."

The temptation to meet the enemy halfway in over-
tures so specious is almost irresistible. But duty knows
no compromise. To a Christian compromise means
worldly conformity. Danger lies that way. The only
way to serve God is unreservedly. The only way to avoid

72 HINTS AND HELPS.

evil is not to tamper with it. The apparently innocent di-
versions of Vanity Fair gave the Pilgrim more trouble
than all the giants and lions along his way. Diluted the-
ology and limp morals — and we are having them in
abundance — will sap the vitality of the most vigorous man
or church. The only safe answer to a proposal of com-
promise is, '' I cannot come down."

The meanest chapters in our American history are
those which tell the story of compromise. It fastened
slavery on our country and ultimately landed us in civil
war. Lincoln once said, '' Nothing is settled until it is
settled right." With the best intent in the world Henry
Clay secured the enactment of a law excluding slavery
from that part of the Louisiana Cession lying north of
the parallel 36"^ 30^ and by inference permitting it else-
where. This was designed to be in the interest of free
soil, but — as is the nature of compromise — it worked the
other way. Simple cerate never cured a cancer yet;
nothing but the knife can do it.

Our pubHc-school system is to-day in danger of
being destroyed by compromise. The friends of parochial
schools are clamoring for a portion of the public funds.
The argument is subtle and persuasive. But the moment
the State is subsidized in the interest of a sect the American
principle of religious freedom and equality is torn asun-
der; and when the Government becomes in any way a
coparcener with denominational instruction there is an end
of our boasted divorcement of Church and State. The
issue is of vital consequence. The Government has a
fixed policy. It is doing a splendid work in free, non-
sectarian education. It '' cannot come down."

The point is well taken in all relations of life. No
compromise ! Right is right ; to dilute it makes it

REBUILDING THE WALL. 73

wrong. Truth is truth ; to adulterate it makes it error.
Duty is duty ; to alloy it with disobedience is to make it
sin. There is danger in " the villages of the plain of
Ono." There is no safety anywhere but in one's place
upon the wall.

We have noted the persistent efforts to draw Nehe-
miah and his men away from duty ; it will be profitable to
observe in brief detail how these efforts were met.

First, by prayer. Nehemiah was a praying man. He
rose from his knees to exhort the builders, '' Be not
afraid ! Remember Jehovah, the great and terrible ; and
fight for your brethren, your homes, your wives and chil-
dren !" John Knox is said to have bedewed the walls of
his closet with his tears of supphcation. George Wash-
ington was glad to profess his dependence on God. Abra-
ham Lincoln, when asked if he was accustomed to pray,
answered, '' The man who would assume to perform the
duties of the Presidency without seeking divine guidance
must be a blockhead." It is easy to concede the import-
ance of prayer in troublous times, but it should be remem-
bered that the quietest day has eternal issues. No man
can ever afford to spend a prayerless day.

Seco7id, a watch was set against the enemy day and
night. One half of the men were armed with spears and
bows. Every mason had a sword girded upon him. A
trumpeter went about at Nehemiah's side. The word was
given, '' In whatsoever place ye hear the clarion, thither
resort unto us !" The countersign was given ; it v/as the
very same that long afterwards rang from the lips of the
Roundheads in their struggle for English freedom, '^ GoD
WITH us !" (verse 20.) There is a question as to the au-
thorship of this famous maxim, ''Trust in God and keep
your powder dry !" Nehemiah originated it. His trust

74 HINTS AND HELPS.

found expression in prayer ; his powder was a compound
of vigilance and valor. No enterprise fails that is backed
by faith and works.

Third, Nehemiah and his men kept on working.
They did not cease carrying burdens and laying stone be-
cause there were footfalls on the opposite hills. "' Every
one with one of his hands wrought in the work and with
the other held a weapon." Higher and higher rose the
walls. The breaches were repaired. The great gates
were presently swung into place. Then all Jerusalem
breathed freely. The trowels were laid by and men with
a good conscience said, ^' Let us return to our shops and
booths, our fields and vineyards." To do so before would
have been to court adversity ; now as they went their
several ways the blessing of the Lord went with them.

The entire work of repairing the wall was finished in
the brief period of fifty-two days. It is amazing how
much can be accomplished by those who set about it in
the right way. Prayer, vigilance, and patient continuance
in well doing can work wonders. " So we labored in the
work." There is a volume of meaning in that little word
"so." When the church learns its full significance the
day of Christ will dawn. A willing people, unceasingly
at prayer, persistently at work, pledged to the uttermost
of duty and fearless of danger, trowel in hand and sword
at girdle — this is the church militant. A willing people,
dwelling at peace in a city protected by God's love as un-
breached walls and battlements — with no use for sword or
spear, for shield or habergeon — never hearing the taunt or
alarum of a foe, happy and prosperous for ever— this is
the church triumphant. And both are filled with such as
Nehemiah's men.

READING THE LAW. 75

READING THE LAW.

Nehemiah 8:i-i2.

The walls of Jerusalem were repaired, the gates were
hung. For the first time in almost a century the people
felt secure. They could lie down at night without the
dread of being summoned by trumpet - blast to drive
marauders from their streets. What a rehef ! The joy of
the people must find expression in thanksgiving to God.

In the seventh month, the beginning of the civil year,
a mass-meeting was held in the public square of Ophel,
near the water gate, to celebrate the completion of the
walls. It was a double hoHday, January first and the
Fourth of July in one. The people were there in a vast
multitude; as it is written, "They gathered themselves
together as one man to the street that was before the
water gate."

The definite purpose for which they were assembled
was to hear the reading of the Scriptures. The Book
was not so common then as now. It was the work of
laborious years to transcribe it. The authoritative copy
in the sacred chest, if spared in the looting of the temple,
had been sadly neglected. There were few opportunities
of hearing it while they were toiling under the lash of
Babylonish taskmasters. But now, in fresh remembrance
of God's guiding and protecting providence, their hearts
turned towards it. They longed to hear again '' the Book
of the Law." There was one man who might be able to
gratify their longing — Ezra the scribe. He was a famous
BibHcal student, was called ''the man of the Book." To
him they naturally turned in this exigency. It is pleasant

76 HINTS AND HELPS.

to know that they were not spurred to this service by a
divine injunction. Spontaneous devotion is the best thing
this side of heaven. Ezra was as wilHng as he was com-
petent to grant their desire. The Scriptures were the
treasure of his heart. To him we probably owe the com-
pilation of the Old Testament canon. It was now thir-
teen years since he had come to Jerusalem with a caravan
of returning exiles, under a commission from Artaxerxes
to appoint magistrates in Judsea. How he had employed
himself since then we cannot say : but inasmuch as he
was an adept in Scriptural study, we may venture the
conjecture that he was divinely engaged in collecting the
canonical books ; and hence the popular request that he,
as the best qualified of all, would '' bring the Book of the
Law."

There was an especial reason, apart from the grati-
tude of the people for recent providences, why the Scrip-
tures should be restored at this time. The nation was now
entering upon a new epoch. Out of the dust and ashes
of a century it had arisen to newness of life. The Gov-
ernment of Israel was a theocracy ; the Scriptures were
its only constitution, its political as well as its doctrinal
and moral code. What could be more appropriate on
this New Year's day, at this celebration of the reestab-
lishment, than a pubHc reading of this great national sym-
bol ? It was something like our reading of the Declara-
tion of Independence on Independence Day. And, if the
truth were only recognized, the two symbols have much
in common; for the Scriptures are the basis of our
American jurisprudence, the real constitution of the Re-
public, the very blood and sinew of our body politic. A
significant thing happened in the United States Senate
during the debate as to an appropriation for the Colum-

READING THE LAW. 7/

bian Fair. In supporting a motion to condition the ap-
propriation on the closing of the gates during the Sab-
bath, a leading senator — not generally known for his
extreme Puritanism — sent to the Speaker's desk a Bible
open at the Fourth Commandment. Thus tribute was
paid incidentally to the authority of the Scriptures as our
national ''Book of the Law."

That was a memorable meeting by the water gate.
A platform had been erected at a commanding point.
This raised scaffold was large enough to accommodate a
considerable number of speakers and high enough to be
"above all the people." On it was seated Ezra, with
thirteen priests and thirteen Levites to assist in the read-
ing and expounding of the Scriptures. It must have been
a most impressive sight. For seven days continuously
probably not less than twenty-five thousand people gath-
ered about that platform. They listened with an intense
interest, breaking the silence only as they sobbed aloud
when their hearts were pierced by the double-edged
sword of truth or responded '' Amen " in the service of
prayer and praise.

The age in which we are living is preeminently an
age of Bible study. There never was a period in the his-
tory of the world when so much and so earnest attention
was given to God's Word. The Scriptures have been so
multiplied as to be within the easy reach of every one.
Multitudes of learned men are engaged in scrutinizing the
volume from every standpoint and in every spirit. The
sunlight of heaven and the lurid glare of brimstone are
alike being thrown upon it. Experts in Biblical criticism
are multiplying on every side. God be praised ! But
under such circumstances it is surely not unwise for God's
people to inquire as to their proper attitude towards the

78 HINTS AND HELPS.

Book. And in this inquiry we may be helped by turn-
ing our eyes towards this great assembly that came to-
gether for Bible study in the square of Ophel more than
two thousand years ago.

I. Observe their reverent behavior. The service was
opened by Ezra with an ascription of praise. '' All the
people stood up." There were no listless or indifferent
ones among them. They had been so long without the
Word of God that their appetites were whetted. We are
so familiar with it that possibly we are not as sensitive to
its divineness as we should be. Able to buy a Bible for
a quarter of a dollar, we are likely to prize it less than if
it represented the value of a farm. Our familiarity in-
duces a measure of indifference. The settlers of Arizona
walked over their fields for years without knowing that
untold treasures of precious ore lay just below the surface.
Thus we treat our Bibles as we treat other books ; but
other books are mere pasture-land, while this is a gold-
field. The investment of a sixpence in a New Testament
has made many a beggar rich towards God.

We are frequently reminded in these days of the dan-
ger of bibliolatry, of making a fetich of the Scriptures, of
worshipping the text. But the danger of our time lies not
that way. Possibly there have been people who attached
a superstitious importance to the mere paper and ink of
Scripture ; but it is better to err in the direction of super-
stition than in that of impiety. The Scotch mothers are
said to have sometimes laid the Bible at the threshold of
their cottage to keep the spooks and bogies away ; better
do that than treat the sacred Volume with any measure
of disdain, to be an arrogant opposer or a heedless neg-
lecter of the divine claims. Better kiss the Book than cut
it with a penknife. (Jer. 36 : 23.)

READING THE LAW. 79

The Bible is not like other books. To say that just
criticism requires the student to dispossess himself of his
conviction as to its divineness is to say that no Christian
can be a Biblical critic. For every true Christian, whether
a critic or not, must believe always and everywhere that
the Bible is differentiated from all other volumes in being
the inspired Word of God. When the scroll is opened
he must '' stand up." When he scrutinizes it his soul
must be pervaded with a reverent recognition of its divine
origin and character. This sort of criticism is highest of
all. And this sort of Biblical study reveals the hid treas-
ures of truth and brings the soul into close communion
with God.

II. Observe agai?i that the people assembled by the
water gate heard the Scriptures under st andingly . They
were not recited to them in an unknown tongue. The
priests and Levites '' read in the Book distinctly, and gave
the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."
The Hebrew had passed out of common use ; a majority
of the people were probably unable to understand it. On
this account the Scriptures as they were read before the
assembly were translated sentence by sentence from the
original into Aramaic, which was the vernacular tongue.
Not only so ; the reading was interspersed with exposi-
tory addresses. During the recitation of the Scriptures
the people stood in token of reverence ; during the ex-
planation of obscure words and passages, with practical
observations as to belief and duty, they sat down. This
was as it should be. There is a great gulf between the
Word itself and the preacher's elucidation of it. The
former is always, everywhere, absolutely true ; the latter
may be true or not.

A glimpse is here given into the true method of

8o HINTS AND HELPS.

preaching. All true preaching is expository, whether it
follows the so-called ''expository method" or not. The
business of the preacher is to make known the divine will
as to our creed and conduct ; simply to bring Scripture
into a clear light and to force it, through heart and con-
science, into common life. To this end his preaching
must first of all be plain. Many a pulpit candle has been
extinguished by a sesquipedalian word. Christ himself
told the sublimest truths in very simple phrases. There
are some churches in which it would be extremely diffi-
cult to enter the kingdom as a little child. Possibly this
is one reason why we have to speak of " the lapsed
masses " and the " unchurched multitudes." The people
want to hear God's truth so presented that they can un-
derstand it. If there is a way of deliverance from sin they
would be glad to learn about it. But when they come to
church and hear learned disquisitions on everything else
but salvation and the vital truths that radiate from it, they
are naturally disappointed. There may be vocal gym-
nastics in the choir-loft and oratorical pyrotechnics in the
pulpit ; but these were not what they came for. And if,
when the next bell rings, they pass by on the other side,
our false homiletical methods are largely to blame for it.
God's Word, his plan of salvation, his code of morals, his
unveiling of himself, this is what the people want. The
gospel has lost none of its magnetic power. Christ is now
as always the great lode-stone. '' I, if I be lifted up,"
said he, '' will draw all men unto me."

III. Observe further^nore that the people at the water
gate heard the Scriptures to some effect. There are occa-
sions when it seems, as if the presentation of God's Word
were like the pouring of water upon the ground ; but in
this instance there were remarkable and immediate results.

READING THE LAW. 8 1

The hearts and consciences of the people were so touched
that they "all wept." They saw their sins and short-
comings as if reflected in a mirror. Alas, year after year
they had bHndly done despite to this holy Law. Was
there hope for them ? Ay, the Word bruises only that it
may heal. " Go your way," said their preachers, '' neither
be ye grieved ; for the joy of the Lord is your strength !"
In the course of that assembly the way of pardon was
doubtless so clearly opened up before them that they went
away with the song of salvation upon their lips. The
Law was full of Christ ; its types and symbols all pointed
to him ; and the joy of the Lord is in throwing our sinful
selves upon the bosom of his love. "In hym ye ben
fylled," is the Wycliffe version of a most gracious promise.
He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctifica-
tion and redemption ; and the Law is a schoolmaster to
lead us to him.

Such was the immediate effect of this memorable ser-
vice. Nor was it transient, like a gracious dew that van-
ishes before the sun. The Feast of Tabernacles was at
hand ; the people entered upon its festivities with gladness
of heart. Never had they sung with so much unction,
" Praise the Lord ; for he is good ; for his mercy endureth
for ever !" They ate the fat and drank the sweet and sent
portions to the needy. Two days after this festival came
a solemn fast, when they formally annulled all pagan aUi-
ances and renewed their covenant with God.

This was a revival worthy of the name. There v/ere
conversions eri masse, the whole nation turning from their
sins to truth and righteousness. Sinners were saved ;
saints were edified ; all Israel was brought upon a higher
plane of life. A true revival can have no other origin than
the Scriptures. God speaks through them to the hearts

Hints and Helps 6

82 HINTS AND HELPS.

and consciences of men and nations. In them sin is re-
vealed as the destroyer and Christ as the Saviour. They
are that sword of the Spirit v/hich in the hand of a devoted
church is destined to suJDJugate the nations and make all
souls prisoners of hope.

Blessed Bible ! Old-fashioned but not obsolete ; deep
beyond the plummet of philosophy, yet clear enough to
reveal thy deepest treasures to children's eyes ; sharp as
a Damascus blade to pierce a guilty conscience, but com-
forting as balm of Gilead to the wounds of the penitent ;
fierce as the lightning against all wrong and error, but
gentle as a mother's touch in time of trouble ! Dear
Book that our fathers touched with reverent hands and
pressed with loving lips, thou shalt be the man of our
counsel also, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our
way. In sorrow we will find thy solace through our tears ;
in weariness we will drink from thy crystal depths as sol-
diers at a wayside fountain ; in weakness we will gird our
loins with thine exceeding great and precious promises as
with a girdle ; and in our last journey thy living Word
shall be our rod and staff to lean upon until we come to
heaven's gate !

KEEPING THE SABBATH. 83

KEEPING THE SABBATH.

Nehemiah 13 : 15-22.

The restoration of the ruined walls of Jerusalem was
appropriately celebrated by a seven-days' festival, at the
conclusion of which the people solemnly renewed their
covenant with God. Its preamble was as follows : "In
view of the many mercies and kindnesses of Jehovah we
do make a sure covenant and write it ; and our princes,
Levites, and priests do set their seal unto it " (Neh. 9 : 38).
In that covenant they promise (i) in general terms ''to
observe and do all the commandments of the Lord/' and
(2) particularly to make no alliance by intermarriage with
the neighboring tribes, (3) to desist from labor on the
Sabbath day, (4) and to support the temple service with
generous contributions, the concluding words of the in-
strument being, '' We will not forsake the house of our
God."

But the Israelites were ever a fickle people. Their
devotion was beautiful while it lasted ; but it was evanes-
cent as the brilliant gates that bar the sunset heavens or
as foam upon the billows. For eleven years, while Nehe-
miah remained in Jerusalem, all went well. Then (B. C.
433) he returned to Persia ; and at once the Israelites,
like children when their mothers are away, began their
misdoings. The tithes were neglected or refused. Pagan
marriages were contracted. A Tyrian colony was per-
mitted to estabhsh itself within the confines of the city.
That miserable apostate, Tobiah the Ammonite, was
allowed to occupy an apartment in the temple. And
naturally with this introduction of foreign influence came

84 HINTS AND HELPS.

encroachments on the Sabbath law. The Phoenicians
and other aHens in Jerusalem observed their own customs,
just as some of the German-Americans in our time insist
on beer-gardens and other usages of *^ the Continental Sun-
day." This was the entering wedge. The Jews themselves
were soon enticed into unholy work and pleasure ; and the
Sabbath was like a garden with its hedge removed and
its beds of fragrance trampled by heedless feet.

After ten years* absence Nehemiah came back to
Jerusalem and found affairs in sad condition. But the
man who had rebuilt four miles of ruined wall in the face
of the enemy in fifty-two days was not the man to be dis-
heartened now. He at once ordered the prom_pt payment
of the tithe, thrust Tobiah out of the sacred precincts of
the temple and caused them to be thoroughly cleansed,
required a general attendance at divine worship, reorgan-
ized the Levitical courses, and then turned his attention
to Sabbath Reform.

The desecration of the Sabbath was one of Israel's
besetting sins. It had again and again brought them
under the divine displeasure. It was for this specifically
that God had permitted them to be carried away into
a captivity of seventy years. Their Scriptures were full of
admonitions respecting it. Their experience should have
taught them better than to err again in this direction : yet
here they were, floundering in the same slough that had
so often mired them.

To reform this evil was the most difficult part of Ne-
hemiah's work, it had entrenched itself so deeply. The
Phoenicians, a great commercial people who were without
a Sabbath, had gained a strong influence in Jerusalem.
They kept their booths open and crowded the gateways
with their traffic on the holy day.

KEEPING THE SABBATH. 85

The first thing Nehemiah did was to '' contend with
the nobles " or Jewish aristocracy. He knew very well
that the greater part of the responsibility lay at their
doors. It was their trade that kept the marts open ; it
was their tables that supported the fish-sellers firom Tyre.
Were they to hold aloof, the alien Sabbath-breakers would
fail for want of patronage. The same is true in our time.
The Sunday newspaper would be a losing venture if
Church members were to withhold their subscriptions and
Christian merchants their advertisements. Meat-markets
and barber-shops and ice-cream restaurants would have
to close their doors if all who profess to believe in God's
Sabbath were to pass them by. Limp, boneless piety is
at the bottom of this business. The reform will never
come until '' the nobles " begin to believe in their own
covenant. Judgment must begin at the house of God.

The next step that Jeremiah took was to enforce the
law. No doubt there were many in Israel who regarded
it as a dead letter, a remnant of the Puritanism of former
days. And no doubt there were others who questioned
the wisdom of this step on the ground that '' you can't
make men moral by law." Nehemiah beheved in suasion,
too ; it was for this reason that he began by remonstrating
with the nobles. But he knew that law is suasion's best
friend and co-laborer ; wherefore he '' commanded that
the gates should be shut and charged that they should
not be opened until after the Sabbath." This closed the
markets, which were in the open spaces about the gates.
It was simply an effort to enforce the statutes. There is
scarcely a city or town in the United States where due re-
spect is paid to enactments pertaining to the holy day.
By this default the sanctity of all law passes into disrepute.
If the statutes are wrong, repeal them ; if right, enforce

86 HINTS AND HELPS.

them. The responsibility falls on every upright citizen.
Three men of vertebral conviction and courage can work
wonders in any community. The easy way is to sit with
folded hands while the Phoenicians are selling their wares
in the gateways ; but the righteous way is to brave all op-
position and cavilling in an earnest endeavor to shut the
gates. Let every man of God lend his utmost influence to
enforce all salutary measures for the public welfare and
promote a general regard for the sanctity of law.

A further step was taken by Nehemiah. When the
foreign merchants undertook to evade his prohibition by
lodging outside the walls and disposing of their commod-
ities to such as went out, he warned them that on a repe-
tition of this offence he "' would lay hands on them."
Some magistrates would have rested with a proclamation ;
he proposed to enforce it. The reason why ''prohibition
does n't prohibit," that is, absolutely eradicate the liquor-
traffic within its reach, is because there are magistrates
who do not hesitate to forswear themselves as co-parceners
with law-breakers. In such cases the recreant officer is
morally a deeper-dyed criminal than the rumseller whom
he protects. The weakness which hesitates and parleys
under such conditions is a crime. If the man in Nehe-
miah's place cannot stop the ilHcit traffic at the gates, he
had better go back to Persia. Let him give place to an
abler and more courageous man.

One thing more Nehemiah did : not satisfied with a
temporary betterment, he took measures to perpetuate the
reform. The gates were to be closed permanently. To
this end the Levites were required to cleanse themselves
and assume thenceforth as one of their sacred functions
'' the keeping of the gates and sanctifying of the Sabbath
day." One reason why so many reform movements fail

KEEPING THE SABBATH. 87

is because they are undertaken on impulse, carried on
with a hurrah, and suffered to lapse presently into desue-
tude. They die of heart failure. For want of plan and
organization and sacramentum they go the way of all
effervescent uprisings.

It is much to be feared that the laxity of Christians in
our time with respect to Sabbath observance and the en-
forcement of Sabbath laws is due in large measure to
a misapprehension of the importance of the Sabbath itself.
We must thoroughly believe in the Sabbath if we would
keep it ourselves or induce others to. We may profitably,
therefore, by way of practical application, offer at this
point a brief resuine of the considerations which underlie
the duty of Sabbath rest.

First. The institution of the Sabbath is coeval with
the race. Adam in Paradise kept the holy day. This is
evidenced by the primitive division of time into weeks.
The word '' remember " in the Fourth Commandment
shows that this injunction was but the revival and reem-
phasizing of one which had all along been binding upon
men.

Second, The duty of Sabbath observance is based
upon a ground which in the nature of the case makes it
perpetual. '' For in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth and rested on the seventh day ; wherefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." There could
be, therefore, no abrogation of this ordinance. When
it ceases to be true that God rested on the Sabbath, then,
and not before, we may feel absolved from the duty of
desisting from all labor on that day.

Third. The Sabbath law was interwoven with the
nerves and sinews of the human constitution before it was
inscribed on the tables of stone. Were there no Deca-

88 HINTS AND HELPS.

logue the Sabbath must still be observed, because it rests
in hygienic principles. The man who presuihes to toil
seven days uninterruptedly in every week pays the penalty
of a violation of nature in pains and weaknesses and pre-
mature decay. A committee appointed by the English
House of Commons to investigate the economy of Sabbath
rest reported that after a patient examination of all avail-
able statistics they were convinced that men and beasts
toiling six days in the week are healthier, live longer, and
do more and better work than such as labor during the
whole seven days. There are multitudes of men who, by
disregard of the natural law of the Sabbath, are loading
themselves down with burdens, physical pains and pun-
ishments, of which they can never be rid. The French
nation is at this moment groaning under a burden greater
than it can bear. The workingmen of France, who
thought it harmless to introduce a reign of Sunday pleas-
ure, are now doing seven days' work for six days' wages
and are vainly clamoring for a restoration of Sabbath rest.
Nature is a hard taskmaster. God forgives, but nature
knows no mercy. Men and nations inevitably pay the
penalty for violating nature's laws.

Fourth. The injunction, " Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy," when placed in the Decalogue re-
ceived the formal sanction of Jehovah as an essential part
of the moral law. The ceremonial law of rights and sym-
bols, being a system of *' shadows of good things to come,"
could be fulfilled and so disannulled. But the moral law,
being ingrained in the constitution of the race and forti-
fied by the divine sanction, can never be revoked or abro-
gated. To make this manifest it was written on tables of
stone.

Fifth, Christ came to fulfil- the ceremonial law ; at

KEEPING THE SABBATH. 89

his coming it vanished as shadows do before the sun. But
as to the moral law, he came to fasten it more and m.ore
permanently on the hearts and consciences of men. He
cleared away the traditions with which the Pharisees had
overlaid the Commandment and restored it to its original
binding simplicity. He said, ^' The Sabbath was made for
man," not to burden and tyrannize over him, but to serve
his bodily and spiritual welfare. The tree thus restored
shall bear fruit for ever ; and its leaves are for the heaHng
of the nations.

Sixth. The change from the seventh to the first day
was in no wise a violation of the original injunction, but
rather in pursuance of it. One-seventh of man's time was
still sacredly devoted to rest, and a new and living branch
of joy was engrafted upon it. The resurrection of Christ
was the end of a new creation.

" 'T was great to call a world from naught;
'Twas greater to redeem.' '

The Creator who after bringing into existence the visible
things of the universe rested on the seventh day and
hallowed it was the same who afterwards by his vicarious
anguish delivered the world from death. It was a weari-
some task. As the worn sufferer looked back from his
cross upon the six days' heat and burden, he said with a
profound sense of relief, '' It is finished;" and then, as on
the seventh primeval morning, he '^ entered into his rest."
It is the Saviour's and Creator's rest in one — the end of
the first and second creations — that w.e celebrate in the
observance of the Lord's day.

These things being so, it is obvious that thoughtful
and right-minded people should lend no countenance
to those who favor the removal of Sabbath landmarks.
This is the day of all days for climbing to the heights of

go HINTS AND HELPS.

vision above the mists and miasms of sordid life to look
away on things eternal and let the soul quaif deep and
glorious breaths of celestial air. At the best our spirit-
ual natures are too much left to starve and shrivel for
want of proper nourishment. The Sabbath calls us into
the King's garden and bids us eat and drink abundantly.

'* Oft when the world with iron hands
Has bound me in its six days' chain,
This bursts them, like the strong man's bands,
And lets my spirit loose again."

This is the day preeminently for meditation in the great
verities, for sanctuary service and the communings of the
trysting- place, for the reading of God's Word, for the
enjoyment of the sweet sanctities of domestic life, for
the home altar where

*' In the circle wide
The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace
The big ha' Bible."

The life of this world never comes so near to heaven as in
a v/ell-kept Sabbath* Then, as quaint George Herbert
sings,

" Heaven's gates are ope ;
Blessings are plentiful and rife,
More plentiful than hope."

ESTHER BEFORE THE KING. 9I

ESTHER BEFORE THE KING.

Esther 4:10-17; 5:1-3.

Here is a dramatic episode in the history of the
Captivity. The scene is Shushan, the winter capital of
Persia, about B. C. 747. The dramatis personcE are as
follows :

1. Xerxes the Great ; here called Ahasuerus, which
is merely a title meaning "the king.'^ Some years before
this he had divorced his queen, Vashti, for refusing to
appear and exhibit her beauty at one of his magnificent
revels. He was proud, self-willed, arrogant, profligate of
human life. On his way to the Grecian war an old man
begged that he would spare from the conscription the
eldest of his five sons ; whereupon he caused the son to
be slain before the father's eyes, cut the body asunder,
and, placing the parts on either side of the road, marched
his army between them. Yet he was possessed of splen-
did courage and was not wholly without magnanimity.

2. Esther Jiis queen ; meaning '' a star." Her former
Jewish name was Hadassah, '' the myrtle." She was an
orphan of the tribe of Benjamin. Her grandfather had
been among the captives whom Nebuchadnezzar carried
away to Babylon, B. C. 598. She had been chosen for
her extraordinary beauty to succeed the unfortunate
Vashti, and had preserved her ancestral faith and purity
of character amid the excesses of the pagan court.

3. Haman ^' the magnijicejit ^ the king's Grand
Vizier. He was arrogant and ambitious to the last de-
gree. When he passed along the streets the people were
required to prostrate themselves before him.

92 HINTS AND HELPS.

4. Mordecai ; an old Jew, uncle and guardian of
Esther ; loyal to his religion and fearless in defending it.
He offended Haman by refusing to bow down before him.
He would not " crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
that thrift might follow fawning." For this the Grand
Vizier proposed a consummate revenge. To kill the old
Jew would be a slight matter ; he would exterminate the
whole noxious brood. On payment of ten thousand tal-
ents of silver fie secured the privilege of destroying them
in every portion of the realm . The edict was issued and
the fatal day appointed by lot, the thirteenth day of the
eleventh month, giving the fated people a respite of
eleven months. During this period the aged Mordecai
labored to avert the threatened calamity.

5. Haiach; an officer in attendance on Queen Esther
and a go-between in her communications with Mordecai.
It was the latter's purpose to thwart the execution of the
decree for the massacre ; and in doing so he must secure
the cooperation of Esther, and Hatach was induced to
carry messages between them. To Mordecai's appeal
that Esther would " go in unto the king " in behalf of her
people she replied that she dared not. To enter the
king's presence at any time uninvited was certain death
unless he should be pleased to extend his sceptre. She
dared not venture. He was then feasting with his nobles,
and for thirty days she had not seen him. To intrude
upon him under such circumstances would be to challenge
danger. Mordecai repHed that she could not afford to
wait. If she refused to intercede for them God would
deliver them in some other way, but she and her father's
house would suffer. A glorious opportunity was hers.
" Who knoweth," said he, '' whether thou art come to the
kingdom for such a time *as this?" By this entreaty the

ESTHER BEFORE THE KING. 93

queen was persuaded. Mordecai and all the Jews that
were in Shushan must fast and pray for her. " So," said
she, '' firm in purpose and strengthened by prayer, will I
go in unto the king; and if I perish, I perish!" and
Mordecai, glad and hopeful, ''went his way and did all
that Esther had commanded him."

The momentous day had come. The king sat feast-
ing with his courtiers in the great banquet - hall. A
guard of Nubians kept watch before the gates. They
saw along the marble walk a form approaching. They
whispered to each other in amazement. Nearer she
came and lifted her veil ; it was the queen ! Never had
she seemed so beautiful, never so gorgeously apparelled.
She paused for a moment at the threshold ; her eyes fell
and her lips moved silently ; then she advanced to meet
her doom. A moment later she stood in presence of her
haughty consort and his splendid company. The eyes of
the banqueters were lifted languidly, then fiJled v/ith sud-
den light, as when one, rising from sleep, draws a curtain
towards the sunrise, and silence fell upon all. Pale but
resolute she advanced towards the king. He looked upon
her, and the vision of her beauty mastered him. The
sceptre was stretched forth. '' What wilt thou, Queen
Esther, and what is thy request?" The crisis was over.
Israel was saved !

In this dramatic episode we may learn tke Glory of
Intercession, For the human race is under the death
sentence as veritably as was Israel ; and it behooves every
earnest man to do his utmost to deliver it. The edict of
retributive justice has gone forth ; swift heralds have
carried it to the remotest parts of the earth : '' The soul
that sinneth it shall die." None but the King of kings
can save ; and no power but prayer can reach him. The

94 HINTS AND HELPS.

atonement of Jesus Christ has made pardon possible, and
his intercession has opened the way for all intercessors to
the throne of the heavenly grace. Who now will, in
behalf of perishing souls, go in unto the King?

First, for our encouragement let us observe again
the bowed form of this suppliant queen. Never had she
seemed so beautiful as now. To bend the knees for oth-
ers is the noblest attitude possible to the children of men.

It is possible for us to be saved alone. Esther might
have begged for personal deliverance and left her people
to their doom ; but it would have been more noble to die
with them. What then shall be said of the selfish pietist
who prays, '' Forgive us our trespasses," and gives no
heed to the multitudes who lie in darkness and the shadow
of death? What shall be said of those Christians who
^' do n't beheve in missions " ? God forgive them for their
sin ! When the ship " Algona " went down and the cap-
tain made off with one of the boats, leaving forty- eight
passengers to drown, the whole world stood in horror of
him. It is far better to sing, " Rescue the perishing,"
than to make too much of " When I can read my title
clear."

It is possible for us to convert souls. Regeneration
is God's prerogative, but conversion is for us. We con-
vert sinners when we bring them to God for regeneration.
It is written, '' He that converteth a sinner from the error
of his way shall save a soul from death and hide a multi-
tude of sins " (Jas. 5 : 20). And again, '' They that be
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and
they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever
and ever" (Dan. 12: 3). A glorious reward awaits those
who in self-forgetfulness have adventured all in behalf of
their fellow-men.

ESTHER BEFORE THE KING. 95

Second^ observe the outstretched sceptre. It means
to us that the great King is ever wiUing and glad to hear
intercessory prayer. Moses was at his best when plead-
ing, '' Oh this people have sinned a great sin. Yet now,
if thou wilt forgive them — and if not, blot me, I pray thee,
out of thy book !" And Hezekiah, when he spread the
letter of Sennacherib before the altar and besought the
Lord to save the nation. And Paul when he protested,
'' I could wish myself accursed for my kinsmen !'*

In the rabbinical legend of Sandalphon an angel is
represented as standing at the outermost gates of heaven,
one foot on a ladder of light. He is listening for a mo-
ther's appeal, the sob of a burdened heart, the cry
" God be merciful to him !" On hearing these voices ol
intercession he bears them aloft, and they turn to garlands
as he lays them before the feet of God.

It stands in the nature of the case that God should be
most willing to hear unselfish prayers. Strange that we
should expect him to hearken when we plead for our-
selves and have so little confidence when we supplicate
for others ! He has compassed the intercessor about with
exceeding great and precious promises. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much ; it sav-
eth the sick so that the Lord shall raise him up, and il
he hath committed sins they shall be forgiven him (Jas.
5:15). ''I will therefore," says Paul, ''that first of all
supphcations, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks
be made (not for yourselves alone but) for all men"
(i Tim. 2 : i).

This was the mind that was in Christ Jesus. Himself
the great Intercessor, he never once denied a prayer for a
loved one. He rose from the feast to follow Jairus to his
daughter's bed. How readily he responded to the appeal

96 HINTS AND HELPS.

of the father of the demoniac boy, '' Oh if thou canst do
anything-, have compassion upon us !" The importunity
of the Syrophoenician woman in her child's behalf was a
pleasure to him. Every day he is saying to many an
intercessory suppliant, '' Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt."

Third, let us observe the sequel. The Jews who
had been under sentence of death were now feasting in
their houses. The body of Haman was hanging on the
gallows which he had built for Mordecai ; and the latter,
arrayed in royal apparel of blue and white, was " great in
the king's house." The Feast of Purim, instituted in
recognition of this deliverance, is observed to this day
among the scattered Jews.

The most gladsome heart in Israel at that time was
doubtless that of the beautiful queen. There is no joy
like ^' the generous pleasure of kindliness." This indeed is
that ''joy of the Lord " into which believers enter at heav-
en's gate. The life of Jesus, like a brimming cup, was full
of it. '' 1 have meat to eat," said he at Jacob's well, " that
ye know not of" He had been pointing a sinful woman
to truth and righteousness. Such deeds were his delight,
his very meat and drink (John 4: 31-36).

In this direction lies the shortest and most direct
route to assurance. In doing for others we most clearly
discern the reality of what the good Lord has done for us.
The best proof that the husbandman cares for his fig-tree
is when the wayfarer pauses to satisfy his hunger with its
fruit. What was it that healed Job's infirmity ? Not his
vain meditations on the mysteries of Providence, and
surely not the well-meant but mistaken sympathy of his
comforters. But when sitting in pain among the ruins of
his prosperity he forgot himself and prayed for those who

ESTHER BEFORE THE KING, 97

had misunderstood and misrepresented him, then God
turned his captivity and '' gave him twice as much as he
had before " (Job 42 : 10).

The world waits to be won by Christian intercession.
Men yield to the divine overtures when they understand
that others are praying- for them. When Gen. Grant was
languishing on his painful bed he received many mes-
sages of sympathy, but none that touched him so deeply
as this from an aged Quaker : " Friend Grant, I am a
stranger to thee. I would not intrude upon thy suffering,
but / am anxious for thy souL Trust in Jesus ; he will
not fail thee." Oh for the day when all God's people
shall be prayerfully anxious for souls !

Furthermore, the abundant entrance into heaven is
for such as, by prayer and its supplementary effort, have
wrought deliverance for others. At the close of our Civil
War, when Abraham Lincoln went down to Richmond,
the freedmen loosed the horses from his carriage and
dragged it through the streets, shouting, " God bless
Massa Lincoln !" He had broken their chains, and this
was but a slight expression of the gratitude which they
felt towards him. But what a welcome awaits the faithful
minister, teacher, parent at the threshold of the celestial
city ! And what a joy to be thus welcomed to the ever-
lasting habitations ! The most honorable award that was
given by ancient Rome for noble deeds was a simple tab-
let on which was inscribed, Ob civ em salvatum^ " For
saving a comrade's life." This was reckoned a more
illustrious deed than breaking through the ranks of the
enemy or planting the standard on the ramparts of a be-
leaguered city. In the apportionment of the honors ol
heaven there is nothing comparable with this, '' He hath
saved a soul from death !" The one who earns that plau-

Hints and Helps 7

98 HINTS AND HELPS.

dit is welcomed by the great Intercessor himself and
enters triumphantly into the joy of his Lord.

Let us therefore in behalf of others come with holy
boldness to the mercy-seat. The way is open. No armed
sentinels guard the way. Dr. Johnson was once kept
waiting four hours in the hallway of the English king.
God keeps no suppliant waiting; and the moment we
draw nigh his sceptre is stretched out. We sometimes
sing,

" I '11 to the gracious King approach
Whose sceptre pardon gives ;
Perhaps he will command my touch,
And then the suppliant lives !

** Perhaps he will admit my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer ;
But if I perish I will go
And perish only there !"

In the interest of faith and truth let us revise the old
hymn and make it read on this wise :

** I know he will admit my plea,
I know he '11 hear my prayer ;
I cannot perish if I go,
I cannot perish there !"

And if this holds true of one who supplicates for himself,
much truer is it of the intercessor. Wherefore let us
plead for others, for the poor and suffering, for those that
dwell in the shadows of death, for kinsfolk and acquaint-
ances, and for such as are afar off. God will hear and
answer, and souls born out of our intercessory travail
shall be as stars in our crowns of rejoicing for ever and
ever !

THE AFFLICTIONS OF JOB. 99

THE AFFLICTIONS OF JOB.

Job 2:1-10.

As a subject of critical and literary study the book of
Job is almost unsurpassed. The fact that it contains more
unique words than any other book of the Old Testament
makes it a fascinating- field for the linguist. It is to him
what Borneo with its unclassified insects and plants was to
the boy-naturalist. To the litterateur it takes its place
alongside the '' Divina Commedia," '' Faust/' and '' Para-
dise Lost." Carlyle, in a famous passage in his essay on
Mohammed, says, " I call the book of Job one of the
grandest things ever written with pen. One feels indeed
as if it were not Hebrew, such a noble universality, differ-
ent from noble patriotism or sectarianism, reigns in it. A
noble book, all men's book. . . . There is nothing written,
I think, in the Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit."
Froude says that it is '' a book which will one day, per-
haps, when it is allowed to stand on its own merits, be seen
towering up alone far above all the poetry of the world.'*
But the book of Job has the greatest value to the religious
philosopher, for it offers an exhaustive treatment by an
inspired penman of the problem of suffering. The literary
form of the book is poetical and dramatic. It is not a
drama, strictly speaking, for the Hebrews had no stage.
But it is in the form of rhythmical dialogue. In language
of the most stately and beautiful kind there is set before
us THE MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE. There are five parts :
(a) The prose prologue, showing that God permits Job to
be tried for the proving of his faith (ch. i, 2). (b) The
arguments of the three friends, with Job's replies. The

lOO HINTS AND HELPS.

reasons which might be alleged for Job's sufferings are
offered and shown to be unsatisfactory (ch. 3-31). (c) The
discourses of Elihu, which are an exalted expansion of the
arguments of the three friends, but contribute nothing
satisfactory to the solution of the problem why suffering
comes upon the good man (ch. 32-37). (d) Jehovah's
reply to Job. He grants no solution of the problem. His
reply to Job's questionings is a revelation of his majesty
(ch. 38-42 : 6). (e) The prose epilogue, showing how,
because of his faith in God, in spite of the problem of his
suffering remaining unsolved, Job's prosperity and happi-
ness are restored (ch. 42 : 7-17). The prologue and epi-
logue show us that with God there is no mystery about
the sufferings of the righteous : they are permitted to suf-
fer for the proving of their faith. But Job does not find
any solution of his sufferings from his point of view. They
remain to him unexplained. Providence is still a mystery
to him. But he is enabled to have faith in God just the
same, and by the restoration of his prosperity God's ap-
proval of his attitude is shown. So we are taught that
while the workings of Providence are a mystery, still the
right condition of mind for man is humble faith, which
God accepts and honors. Thus we find that the Old Tes-
tament points us to that which we are tempted to think to
be pretty nearly the exclusive teaching of the New Testa-
ment : the virtue of faith.

The lesson before us is a part of the prologue of the
book. Job is introduced, and his character and prosper-
ity are described (i : 1-5). Then the origin of the trial of
Job's faith is shown in the councils of heaven, where Sa-
tan, "that one of God's ministers whose office is to try the
sincerity of men," insinuates that Job's faith is mercenary,
that any one who is prosperous can have faith, and is met

THE AFFLICTIONS OF JOB. lOI

with permission from Jehovah to try Job's faith by suf-
fering (vv. 6-12). There follows the account of the loss
of Job's herds and flocks, servants, house, and children,
through all of which Job's faith remained unshaken (vv.
13-22). Our lesson follows, teUing how permission was
given by Jehovah to try Job still further by intense bodily
suffering. And we see Job coming through it with confi-
dence in God unabated. We are able now to see that our
passage is but one step in the development of a sublime
moral lesson. But it has nevertheless a certain complete-
ness of its own. We can learn from it (a) a lesson about
the character of temptation, and (b) a lesson about bear-
ing temptation.

(a) Temptation.

I. God is not the author of it. " And the Lord said
unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand " (v. 6). If any
temptation be analyzed into its elements, it will be found
to have three parts : first, the external conditions which
tend to bring it about ; for instance, being brought into a
place where the temptation exists (like Christ, who was
led by the Spirit into the foodless desert), or being ex-
posed to physical suffering (like Paul, 2 Cor. 12:7). God
may be the author of these conditions. We pray that if
it be his will he will not lead us into temptation. But he
may see fit to do so (as in the case of Christ). Or Satan
may be the author of these conditions (as in Paul's and
Job's cases). Second, there is the state of heart which
makes temptation tempting to us. God is not the author
of this (Jas. 1 : 13, 14). Third, there is the special thought
in the mind, the suggestion to do the deed, which is the
focusing of the preexisting and undeveloped feelings of
the heart. Satan is the author of this. In the book of
Job the malignancy of his character is not as fully por-

I02 HINTS AND HELPS.

trayed as elsewhere. But when he brought pain to bear
upon Job we cannot but think that he suggested to Job
the thought of denying God and giving up his faith. God
sometimes leads us into places and circumstances where
temptation exists, but he does not suggest the thought of
sin to us nor give us the desire to yield to it which con-
stitute the temptation. Hence he is not the author of
temptation.

2. But he permits us to be tempted. He allows nat-
ural laws to work about us, and historical events to shape
themselves, and persons and things to come into contact
with us, in such ways that temptation arises. He said of
Job to Satan, " Behold, he is in thine hand " (ver. 6). He
granted leave for great bodily suffering to come upon Job.
This bodily suffering would tend to make Job waver in his
faith, because, conscious of an honest endeavor to do right,
he would not be able to understand why God permitted
the affliction to come upon him. It is not always the case
that God immediately sends suffering or immediately leads
us where we shall be exposed to it. But whenever it comes
it is always and invariably with his full permission. To say
anything else would be to say that God in certain cases
loses control of events, which is an impossible supposition.
Nothing escapes him. All things are naked and opened
before his eyes. Whatever is, is by his permission. There
is nothing going on which he does not see and which he
could not check in a moment if he chose. But he has
permitted good men always to be exposed to sufferings
that had in them the possibility of temptation. Indeed,
what man ever lived that he did not permit to be so ex-
posed ? He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. To
expect to be free from trial is to expect to be dehuman-
ized.

THE AFFLICTIONS OF JOB. I03

3. God permits temptation for our good. In our
lesson we see that it was permitted in Job's case in order
to bring out clearly the stability of his faith in God. Fire
is indispensable to the purifying of the gold. Therefore
we are told to '' count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations " (Jas. i : 2). It is true that James is referring
to tribulations for Christ's sake. But the word is the com-
mon word for temptation (see i Tim. 6 : 9). And would
not these tribulations tend to lead to the weakening of
faith and so to sin ? Tribulation is not synonymous with
temptation, but it tends to become so in experience. So
when we are inclined to feel that God permits tribulation
but to question whether he permits temptation, we are
wrong, for there is no great difference between the two.
He lets them come ; he lets temptation come, open-eyed,
but not for naught. God is not careless or thoughtless in
his permission of our trial. He is fully cognizant of
every step in its oncoming. Does not this fact, combined
with our knowledge that he is a God of love, lead us to
the necessary conclusion that it must be for our good that
he lets us be tempted? To think anything else would be
irrational. We do not see how it is for our good any
more than Job did. But our function Godward in this
life is not seeing, but beheving without seeing. We walk
by faith, not by sight.

4. Our friends sometimes unwittingly make tempta-
tion harder to us. Job's wife (ver. 9) spoke to him in
sympathy. '' Renounce God and die [for that is the only
thing remaining to you]," is not a fling of sarcasm, but a
weak but honest attempt to give comfort. Her advice
was not good, but it was advice. She was not trying to
show hostility. " Her story, however, is not told for her
sake, but to show how those around Job fell away, and to

104 HINTS AND HELPS.

set in a strong light the strain to which his faith was put
by such an example and the solicitations that accompa-
nied it." (Davidson.) Sometimes the hardest thing
about being tempted is that the temptation comes through
some one whom we love. Friends do not always know
how they lend themselves to putting strain upon our char-
acter. Adam's temptation came through the one closest
to him. Job's temptation to lose faith was put into defi-
nite form by his wife. Shakespeare may have been un-
consciously reflecting the same thought when he made
Lady Macbeth the instrument for the crystallization of
Macbeth's desires into the definite form of crime. If a
stranger suggested a wrong to us we would repudiate it.
But when a friend suggests it, affection is very apt to serve
as an over-successful disguise. We do not always see the
wrongness of evil, because it comes to us not under the
title of sin, but under the name of friendship or some other
good thing (2 Cor. 11 : 14).

5. But temptation is never necessarily successful. It
was not so in Job's case. Let it do its utmost with us, still
the integrity of the power of the soul is not in the least
affected. Above all solicitations without, above all ten-
dencies to yield within, the will sits enthroned with a free
sceptre. No external force nor internal inclination can
compel the will either way. Suffering could not compel
Job to renounce God, though it might compel him to die.
We sometimes hear men say of a criminal, ^' Poor fellow,
he could n't help it." The sense of human sympathy and
pity is worthy of praise. But its expression would make
the criminal beneath human sympathy, for ii; would make
him less than a man by denying to him any freedom of
will. Fatalism is the lowest degradation of man. It is a
falsehood. No man must sin. For every man has a will,

THE AFFLICTIONS OF JOB. I05

and every man has access to a will stronger than his own
which is waiting to work in him resistance to evil, i Cor.
10:13.

(b) Bearing temptation.

Job's example gives us some very practical lessons.

1. We see the solitude of the tempted soul. Job's
wife, the one who ought most fully to have understood
him, is seen to be antagonistic to his state of heart. He
wanted help in resisting temptation ; she, on the contrary,
tended to make him yield to it. And so he must stand
alone to fight his great battle. How awful is the solitude
of the human soul ! Even if they are on the right side in
the struggle against sin, parents, friends, brothers cannot
enter upon our field of battle. The barriers of the soul
cannot be passed. There alone we each must confront
temptation and have our fight with it. And yet we are
not alone there. God is with us, and not as a spectator
merely, but as a helper. He can do what man cannot do :
he can penetrate into the human heart and give it grace.
Why did Job resist sin and hold fast by his faith ? Be-
cause God was helping him even when he did not feel it
and had almost ceased to believe it. It is dreadful to
think how alone we often are in our interior life so far as
friends are concerned. But that loneliness is relieved by
the presence of God.

2. Job rightly says to his wife that to renounce God
would be foolish (v. 10). It would be foolish because one
ought not to take such an intensely important step with-
out having everything so clearly before him that there
could be no doubt that such a step was the only reason-
able one. But Job was in complete mystery. He did
not know by any means that the circumstances were such
as ought to have legitimately led to that end. The pro-

I06 HINTS AND HELPS.

logue shows us that the circumstances which were hidden
from Job, if known to him, would certainly have led him
to be faithful to God. He would have made a tremendous
mistake if he had felt that he was sure that the only
rational thing to do was to give up God. There was
much he did not know. The atheist assumes that he is
omniscient. Moreover if Job had renounced God he
would have been irrational because he would have given
up the only source of help possible. To be sure it
seemed as though God did not intend to help him. But
it would have been most foolish to assume that what
seemed to be so was so, when that involved abandoning
the only possible hope. If God did not help Job no one
could. He was not sure that God would not help him.
When a man is drowning and there is hope only in the
possibility of his catching one life-line, it would be foolish
for him to abandon the chance of getting hold of it be-
cause safety by means of it was only hypothetical. If a
man has no hope except in a guess, he had better hold
fast to that guess. It is infinitely better than nothing
at all.

3. Job shows us that faith is the only reasonable
attitude of man towards God. '' What ? shall we receive
good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil ?^'
(v. 10). Is God sovereign of the universe and of our-
selves ? Yes. Has he not a right then to send us what
he will? Surely. And has he not the right to keep
from us the understanding of his ways of working with
us without being exposed to the insinuation that he
has ceased to love us ? Certainly. And has he not a
right still to our faith, when we cannot understand his
working ? Yes, says Job. Notice that Job means not
only that God has a right as sovereign Creator to do what

THE AFFLICTIONS OF JOB. 107

He will with his creatures, but that doing what he will
with them, he is still reasonably entitled to faith from
them. The question is not whether God has a right to
afflict, but whether, afflicting, he has a right still to our
trust. Job shows us by example that He has, and that it is
possible for us to give it. Indeed it would be an odd
kind of faith which exacted of God an understanding of all
his ways. That would not be faith but knowledge. That
such faith as Job's is not impossible is shown by the exam-
ple of Sir Walter Scott. When he found himself a bank-
rupt through no fault of his own, he did not curse his fate
or wonder whether there were a God, but he quietly sub-
mitted to the lot which had come upon him and copied
these words of Job into his diary. No man can see into
the mystery of God's providence ; but the man who has
faith is able to get along without seeing. And it can be a
source of joy to him that his attitude towards God is just
that which is most reasonable in a finite mind towards that
which is infinite.

4. Good comes, although we do not see it, out of our
temptations. " In all this did not Job sin with his lips "
(v. 10). That gives to us only the negative result. But
underneath that there was the positive result of new
strength of character. Job in prosperity might be accused
of a mercenary faith, and it could not be disproven. But
Job was richer in as far as accomplishment is more than
the possibility of accomphshment. To be able to trust
God in trouble is not as much as to actually do so. And
this accomplishment, like every moral accomplishment
meant to Job an accretion of moral strength. He was a
greater man after trial than before.

I08 HINTS AND HELPS.

AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED.

Job 5 •17-27-

As there is one dominating thought in the book of
Job, and all things in the book take their place in the
development of that thought, it would be wholly unfair,
not to say dangerous, to study any single passage with-
out fixing its relation to the whole.

We are to remember always that the purpose of the
book is to point to the fact that God's ways of dealing
with his people are mysterious. The reason of the suf-
ferings of the righteous is to bring out some special ex-
cellence of character plainly seen by God, but veiled from
the afflicted soul. There are other partial explanations
of sorrow, true as far as they go, but not sufficient always.
The great debate between Job and his friends (chap.
4-31) brings out some of these partial explanations, but
Job shows that they are not fully satisfactory in his case
(i. e., the case of a righteous man). The lesson before us is
a portion of one of these partial explanations. It is true,
yet it is not the whole truth concerning suffering. Of the
three cycles of speeches (chap. 4-14, 15-21, 22-31) our
passage belongs to the first. Eliphaz, the speaker, takes
the position of one who has special insight into divine
truth. As such he expresses wonder at Job's despair
(chap. 4: i-ii), he objects to Job's murmurings (chap. 4:
12-5:7), and he asserts that suffering is God's way of
correcting his children (5 : 8-27).

I. He touches first upon the facts in the matter.

I. The chief fact before him is that suffering is real.
The reahty of it is the very substructure of his thought.

AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED. IO9

To demonstrate that there is suffering would have been
an utterly absurd proceeding in his eyes, especially there
in the presence of the hideously and excruciatingly suf-
fering Job. It is not well for us to brood over sorrows.
Even if they are genuine they are not all that is genuine
in life. On the other hand it is not well for us to deal
with them by shutting our eyes to them. The ostrich's
danger is not removed by his burying his head in the
sand. There is a morbid introspectiveness, an unhealthy
abandonment of the mind to the depression of grief
There is also a manly courageous facing of the question
of suffering, both in general and in our special individual
circumstances, which tends to a rational understanding of
it and to the good health of the soul. That vagary of
thought known to-day as Christian Science attempts to
deal with the matter of pain, death, and sorrow by deny-
ing their existence. But a large part of the Scripture is
occupied with the trials of life. If trials are imaginary
why these Scriptures ? Moreover if suffering is imagi-
nary Christ did not really die for us and we are yet in
our sins. But those who suffer (and who of us does not?)
do not need to be argued into belief in the reality of suf-
fering. Pain is here, a colossal, awful fact.

2. Another fact patent to Eliphaz was that suffering
comes from God (v. 17). It is "the chastening of the
Almighty." In Job's case, to be sure, the suffering was
the immediate work of Satan, to whom God delivered
him for a Hmited amount of trial (2 :6). But since that
delivering over was deliberate and intentional, God held
himself responsible for it. Qui facit per aliurti facit per
se. God is not responsible for everything which he per-
mits. He is not responsible for sin. Nor is he responsi-
ble for suffering as a whole, which has come into the

no HINTS AND HELPS.

world as the result of sin. But he is responsible for the
method of the appHcation of individual sufferings, now
that suffering is here. The wicked man who suffers as
the direct result of his evil-doing can rightly say, '^ God
means something by this." He means to check him in
his wickedness and lead him to repentance. National
and social law carry out God's intentions towards evil-
doers. But the saint also can look up out of his sorrows
to God and say, '' God means something by this for me."
He may mean that the saint should search himself and
find some undiscovered fault and abandon it (as Eliphaz
interpreted suffering), or he may mean that the saint
should be patient and wait on God, living by faith and
not by sight, and have strength and purity increased by
trial (as Job's sufferings were to be understood). So from
God's point of view no suffering is intended to be wasted.

n. EHphaz goes on from his acceptance of the facts of
the existence of suffering and its coming from God, to
show the purpose of suffering.

I. Its purpose is to lead one to self-inspection, confes-
sion of sin, and repentance. He urges Job not to despise
God's chastening (v. 17), because if after being wounded
one turns to God in penitence. He will forgive and heal
him (v. 18).- The making sore is in order to the bind-
ing up, and the wounding is to drive one back to God so
that he may make whole. To him who trusts God there
is no such thing as retributive or judicial suffering. Christ
bore -the judicial sufferings of all who are his, whether
before or since his advent. But there is such a thing as
corrective suffering. Even in the saint there are rem-
nants of the old man, who has a measure of existence,
though he is no longer on the heart's throne. These re^
mainders of the old life need always to be struggled

AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED. Ill

against. But sometimes we may grow careless or indo-
lent about them. A time of trial tends to make us more
thoughtful ; we become cognizant of weaknesses we had
overlooked in our optimistic time of prosperity. Under
the stress of pain we see ourselves as we did not before.
We are led to humble ourselves before God and to seek
his forgiveness anew. Is any one so good that he can-
not be bettered ? Is any one conscious of everything
in himself w^hich is not quite as it ought to be? No.
Then there is still a place for God's use of correction
upon us.

2. But the true intention of it of course lies back of
the thing itself Suffering is not for suffering's sake.
There is no virtue in pain per se. ''' He maketh sore and
bindeth up" (v. i8). The making sore is in order to
the binding up. God does not intend that the pain
should end with itself. There is always in his thought a
sequence to come. And that after-work is meant to be
good. We need not deny that there is retributive suffer-
ing for the hardened sinner who has rejected all the offer-
ings of God's grace. But even in his case, if he had not
hardened himself this suffering would have been remedial ;
it would have brought him back through repentance to
God, and so back to joy and peace.

III. The result of God's corrective afflictions is shown.

I. Eliphaz shows it to be an advance for the soul
which is led by them to penitence. Through the whole
passage (vv. 18-26) there runs the thought that the man
who accepts God's correction is better off because of it.
He has been led to a position preferable to that which he
occupied before the correction came. Here is one of the
great paradoxes of life. Let a man have everything he
wants and he will deteriorate ; let him suffer deprivation

112 HINTS AND HELPS.

and he progresses. Let him hold to life selfishly and he
loses it ; let him sacrifice Hfe and he finds it. The way of
humihation is the way of exaltation. We are brought low
in order that we may be lifted up. You cannot get some-
thing for nothing. For Christ you must give up the
world. For growth you must submit to pruning. For
the uplifting of the spiritual man there must be the de-
pression of the natural man. We get by giving up.
Christ even, we are mysteriously told, was made perfect
through suflTering. And we are perfected more and more
by suflfering too, and in a different way from Chrisf s, by
being led to humble ourselves before God in penitence.
Such a lowly soul God loves to lead up to the high places
of his grace, where there are rapturous visions and joys
beyond words.

2. Ehphaz indicates also that outward prosperity
comes to those who accept God's correction and turn
from their sins (vv. 24, 25). Here we see a man who,
after having suffered deprivation, gets everything his heart
could wish. His habitation, he knows, is always safe
(v. 24), his flocks flourish, so that when he goes to them
he finds always whatever he wants (v. 24, see Dillmann,
fourth edition), and he sees about him a great family, such
as would fill the heart of an Eastern sheikh like Job with
great joy (v. 25). And to crown all there is given to him
length of days : he fulfils the natural course of life unhin-
dered by disease or accident, and in proper time, when he
has had out of life all that even the eager heart of man
could ask, he goes to his grave " like as a shock of corn
cometh in in its season '' (R. V., v. 26).

This is evidently an idealization of the prosperity of
the righteous. Some suspect that back of other meanings
in the passage there lies a reference to the history of God's

AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED. II3

chosen people, who after all their sufferings and captivi-
ties were promised great prosperity. They hold that in
addition to its personal application the book of Job was
intended to have a lesson for the Jews as a nation. (Dill-
mann, Davidson, Cheyne.)

Eliphaz's idealization may refer to the blessedness in
the future life of the saint who patiently accepts God's cor-
rection here. There all tears are wiped away from our
eyes, and there is no more separation and no more
death.

But it is not impossible to hold to a Hteral reference
to the present life. Eliphaz idealizes the present, it is
true ; he does not stop to limit. Accordingly it appears
as though it were God's intention to give large prosperity
to every one who submits to His correction. But such,
we know, is not the case. The wicked are allowed to
flourish, and the righteous are permitted sometimes to
keep on suffering. This is a world of inequalities which
requires an after-world for an evening-up. But these ex-
ceptions do not prove the rule. There is inequality in the
disposition of rewards in this life, and yet in the long run
there is equality. Justice does not do its perfect work
yet, but it is at work steadily and undeterred. God rules
here as well as hereafter. Righteousness as a rule pays,
and wickedness as a rule does not pay. The good things
of life are not all in the hands of the enemies of God. The
most successful nations through the ages have been those
which deserved success ; and the long successful families
have been those whose traditions of uprightness have de-
scended from father to son through generations. We do
well to look to a better world for a complete adjustment of
the scales of justice. But we are not to forget that this
also is God's world, and that he has so constituted it in

Hints and Helps. O

114 HINTS AND HELPS.

general that blessing, even in the most material form, shall
come richly upon his own.

IV. The conclusion of the matter is set as though it
were a text at the opening of our lesson : '' Behold, happy
is the man whom God correcteth.'^ Sorrow and suffering
are facts ; but they are not without purpose ; and to him
who receives them as the correction of God, and who
takes occasion by reason of their suggestion to search his
own heart and turn towards a better life, their end is up-
lifting of character and joy of heart. In these days there
is plenty of introspection : we are always looking into our
minds to see if we are satisfied with our position, our suc-
cess, our intellectual achievement. Often enough too we
search our minds for the purpose of seeing how real our
faith is and what internal suggestions of the reahty of our
religion may be offered us. But not nearly often enough
do we scrutinize ourselves to find our moral and spiritual
deficiencies, that we may correct them. And when trials
come upon us, which are sent not in retribution, but to
give that subjugation, sobriety, and quietness of soul
that are necessary for heart-searching, we treat them as
hard luck — ills that we must smile at and bear as best we
may, but not often as messengers of God hiding a heav-
enly glory behind a sombre mien. No. About the last
thing troubles do for us is to lead us to know ourselves.
The troublous aspect of trouble is so prominently and
persistently before us that we forget about its divine aspect.
" A good man is happy," says Matthew Henry, " though
he be afflicted ; for whatever he has lost, he has not lost
his enjoyment of God nor his title to heaven ; nay, he is
happy because he is afflicted ; correction is an evidence of
his sonship and a means of his sanctification ; it mortifies
his corruptions, weans his heart from the world, draws

AFFLICTIONS SANCTIFIED, II 5

him nearer to God, brings him to his Bible, brings him to
his knees, works him for and so is working for him a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

And yet the last word is not said. There is a phase
of suffering, not mentioned by Eliphaz, which is higher
than anything known to him. It is that the good man,
aside from his sins, may be permitted to suffer for the re-
fining and spiritualizing of his life. Christ suffered and
was made perfect through suffering. He was not made
free from sin by it, for he had no sin. But the supreme
elements of loveliness in character which he had latent
within him were developed and revealed by the sorrows
that encompassed him. In him there was no dross, yet
the refinement by fire had its place. Aside from its office
in the eradication of sin, suffering is seen to have its work
for the betterment of the heart. This is the lesson which
we learn in the book of Job. We see it because we are
permitted to be present at the council of heaven and to
hear that Job is to be tried for this purpose ; not because
he was a sinful man, but because he was a righteous man,
whose faith and exalted disinterestedness could only be
revealed by trouble. But Job did not see this, nor did
his argumentative friends. So that the lesson of the
book from the point of view of man is that the reason
of God's providences is concealed, and that man must
live by faith. But from God's position (into which we are
permitted to look for a moment) we see that everything is
plain, and that the righteous man's mysterious suffering is
for his good, is a mark of the love of God. " Eliphaz
alleges that man suffers because he is a sinner ; he knew
not that a man may likewise suffer because he is a saint."
(William Henry Green.)

Il6 HINTS AND HELPS.

JOB'S APPEAL TO GOD.

Job 23:1-10.

Again we must find the place of the passage in the
scheme of the whole book. Misunderstandings of Scrip-
ture very often arise from trying to study special parts as
though they had no connection with other parts. In
this way it is sometimes possible to get out of a passage
precisely the opposite of its real meaning. And in no
book of the Bible is this more possible than in Job,
where arguments are put forth in order that they may be
refuted. We are to recall then that the discussion of the
problem of suffering by Job and his friends moves on in
tliree cycles, whose scope is thus described by Prof. Da-
vidson : the first cycle exhausts " the argument from the
general conception of God;" the second exhausts ''the
argument from the operation of his providence in the
world, as observed in the fate of the wicked;" the third
shows the friends directly accusing Job of some great
crime which is the cause of his suffering. In chapter 22
EHphaz brings a pointed charge of wickedness against
Job. Our lesson is the beginning of Job's reply. He
does not answer Eliphaz's charge. His mind is dwell-
ing on the thoughts that have already been brought
out by the discussion, and it seems as though he had
been so absorbed in these that he had not heard any-
thing which Eliphaz said. So his reply does not meet
directly the personal accusation against him, but brings
out only the fact that he is not able to discover that the
world is governed justly, for he himself, a righteous man,
is suffering, and how can that be other than unjust? Our

JOB'S APPEAL TO GOD. II7

passage opens with a statement of Job's dissatisfied condi-
tion of mind (vv. i, 2) followed by a wish that he might find
God and defend himself before him (vv. 3-7), and it con-
cludes with a lament that he is not able to do so (vv. 8-10).
There are three verses which especially need explana-
tion, 2, 6, and 7. Verse 2 is exceedingly difficult.
Dean Bradley calls it " one single indignant ejacula-
tion, which, as it is the despair of translators and com-
mentators, I shall pass over." Davidson says '^the Au-
thorized Version is almost certainly wrong in its render-
ing of this verse, though a more satisfactory rendering
is hard to give." Perhaps the best we can do under
the circumstances is to take the tentative interpretation of
the greatest living commentator on the book in his lately
revised edition — Prof. Dillmann. The English of his ren-
dering would be something like this : Even to-day (as
well as on the preceding days of our conversation) is my
complaint stubborn ; the hand of God is heavy upon my
groaning (to bring it to expression). The margin of the
Revised Version also suggests this idea. The thought is
that Job remains still in darkness ; he sees no explanation
of his suffering, he can only feel that he must continue
complaining against the way in which Providence deals
with him, and the continuance of that way can only serve
to force from him new complaints. Verse 6 is adequately
explained by the Revised Version : '^ Would he contend
with me in the greatness of his power ? Nay, but he would
give heed unto me." Job wants to meet God, not in His
omnipotence, which would only crush him, but more as
an equal, more as a human judge who would listen to his
plea. Verse 7 seems to mean, '' if he would only listen
to me it would be seen that a doer of right was reasoning
with him, and so should I be released for ever from my

Il8 HINTS AND HELPS.

judge." The idea is not so much that if God would only
hear Job's prayer he might thus be able to reason with
God, as that if he only had a chance to reason before
God, Job's righteousness would be evident.

So much for special difficulties. Next we are to re-
member, in thinking of the passage, two things:

(a) The abstract question of the possibility of any
man being absolutely innocent in the sight of God is not
raised here. We know that before the Omniscient ''there
is none that doeth good, no, not one." Yet the Bible
constantly speaks of the righteous man. And while it is
true that there is no perfectly righteous man, tried by the
standard of God's holiness, still it is true that men are
divided into two great classes, those who (however im-
perfectly) seek to serve God and do right, and those who
live in selfishness and sin. The former class are called
the righteous, and relatively to others they deserve the
name, and also because their hearts are right and the
tendency of their lives is towards more and more right-
eousness. Job asserted that he was a righteous man, his
friends admitted it so far as they knew his conduct
(though they suspected some secret sin), and the purpose
of the book is not to dispute it. In the absolute sense
Job was not righteous, because no man is righteous in
that sense ; but in the relative sense Job's claim as to his
own character was true.

(b) We are not to try to find in Job as he is exhibited
in our lesson a model for ourselves when we are afiiicted.
In the long run, when the processes of thought have been
exhausted, and Job is led to turn from his own power of
solving life's riddles, and just to have faith that God is
doing all things well even when we do not see it, then
Job becomes the model for our imitation. But until that

JOB'S APPEAL TO GOD. II9

end is reached Job's mind is in a condition of develop-
ment, and we are to be careful not to take his doubts and
his imperfect reasonings as models for us. But if such
doubts and reasonings arise in us, then we are to have
Job for our model in the sense that we are to escape
from them as he did. In other words we are not to take
Job's transitional reasonings as patterns, but if we are in
a similar transitional state ourselves, his escape becomes
our pattern.

Let us try to separate in Job's condition those things
in which he was right from those things in which he was
wrong.

I. He was right

1. In his consciousness of innocence. He'had tried to
serve God. He had been a righteous man in the sense
which has been explained. There is nowhere in the book
any real impeachment of Job's character as a God-fearing
man. Indeed the whole point of the book depends on
the assumption that he was such, and the problem is to
explain his suffering upon that assumption. His friends
denied it and thereby only introduced confusion. Their
limited understanding of life made it inconceivable that a
good man could be permited to suffer. There are men
who are God-fearing, and, like one young man whom
Jesus looked upon and loved, near to the kingdom. It
does not expedite matters to deny that they are such.
No harm can be done by the recognition of genuinely
good elements of character anywhere.

2. Job was right in using his reason on the great
problem of suffering. Man has been defined as the curi-
ous animal; he '^ wants to know." He has a bent to-
ward explanations, and this bent was given him by the
Creator. It is right for us to use our minds in trying to

I20 HINTS AND HELPS.

understand all that we can about God and his ways of
working with us. Pope said, "the proper study of
mankind is man." We may rather say '' the proper
study of mankind is God." God has revealed himself to
us, why but that we might know him ? And he has
concealed himself also in such ways that to any one who
wants to know more more is given. So that it is right
for us to read and think and discuss, only we are to re-
member also that he has concealed much of himself from
us which we are not intended to find and cannot. It is
right for us to use our reason and study all we can about
God, remem.bering always that we cannot know all there
is to know about him.

3. Job was right in wanting to know God's opinion
of him (verse 5). It makes a great difference what we
think of God, but that is not nearly as important as what
God thinks of us. His thought of us is far truer than our
thought of him could possibly be. Job wanted God to
answer him, and when God did so the answer was satis-
factory and final. Men are very apt to come to an unde-
fined notion that what they think about God is the truth
and final. So they assume guesses to be demonstrations,
whereas they would be more apt to find truth if they asked
what God thought of them.

4. Job was right in his desire to be just before God.
He admitted the position which God had over him ; he
saw that there was no hope of justice from his friends, and
so he wished that he might plead his cause before Him
who could appreciate it and who had a right to be his
judge. " How shall a man be just with God?" is a ques-
tion whose frank asking is the gateway to a better life.
The trouble is that many of us are more desirous to be
just in the eyes of men than in the eyes of God.

JOB'S APPEAL TO GOD. 121

5. Job was right in holding fast in his behef in God.
He was not able to see how God's way of dealing with
him could be just. Indeed, he complained loudly against
it as being unjust (verse i). But he never for one moment
questioned that there was a God. He had not reached
that great height of intellectual achievement touched by
some aspiring minds in our own day, where, in view of the
difficulties connected with God's way of working, it be-
comes possible to see plainly that there is no God. It is
a great feat of mind to reason thus : I cannot understand
God, therefore there is no God ! It is Hke saying, '' There
are some problems in arithmetic which I have not solved,
therefore there is no arithmetic."

6. Job believed in justice as an essential element in
the character of God, even though he did not see how
God was just in the present instance. He thought that il
he could only have a chance to meet God and present his
case to him he would secure justice (verse 6). This pre-
supposes a disposition towards justice in God. From the
special instance Job would appeal to the general disposi-
tion. Back of what seemed to him injustice he beheved
justice lay. It is one of the ways of faith in God to leap
beyond the special providence to the general, stable, inva-
riable character in our Father which Hes back of it. We
do not see how this or that can be just or kind, but we
know that God is both just and kind, and we escape from
our present temporary trial and find rest in the heart of
our eternal Father.

II. Job was wrong

I. In his imperfect theory of suffering — wrong, that
is, in the sense of being mistaken. He was trying to ad-
just his mind to his condition upon the theory that suf-
fering is always a punishment for sin. We can only pity

122 HINTS AND HELPS.

him for not being able to see what has been clearly and
positively shown to us : that suffering is often disciplinary.
'' Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." What an infi-
nite distance there is between poor unseeing Job and our-
selves, who are given eyes to behold beneficence, not in the
sun behind the clouds only, but in the clouds themselves.

2. Job was wrong in his resdess desire to know all the
reasons for God's dealings with him. Notice that it is not
wrong to want to understand all we can about God and
his ways of working with us. It is wrong to feel that we
are injured when we are unable to completely satisfy that
want. We are taught that it was part of Christ's humilia-
tion that he put a self-limitation upon his knowledge. As
a man he did not always employ the omniscience of his
divinity; but he submitted not to know some things. Job
wanted to know all the rationale of God's working. But
Christ shows us a better way.

3. Job was wrong in wanting to have God bring him-
self down to a level of equality with him, laying aside his
omniscience and listening, as though he were only a hu-
man judge, to Job. God is not our equal ever. If it
were possible for him to undeify himself and make him-
self no greater than ourselves, it would not be right for
him to do so. For he is the Lord God for ever and ever.
His Son may become incarnate, may be our equal in hu-
manity. But it would have been disastrous if there had
not been another person in the Trinity to remain still on
the throne of glory. The harmony and blessedness of the
universe depend on God's being higher than man. It
would not be an advantage by any means to have him at
our level.

4. Job was plainly wrong in his impatient feeling
towards God (verse 2). We can sympathize with him

JOB'S APPEAL TO GOD. 1 23

because he had many and heavy things to fret his soul.
His unsympathetic friends alone were enough to exasper-
ate him. Nevertheless this is not a justification of his im-
patience. Many and many a hard thing he said about
God in the course of the discussion, and how must he
have felt about 4:hem when his sufferings were past and his
prosperity was given back to him and he was living plainly
under the smile of God ? Then he could see that never,
never is a human soul warranted in saying hard things of
God. For God is always love, and even the trials he
sends are for our blessing, if we only receive them aright.
III. General thoughts.

1. How mixed are the emotions of even the noblest
souls ! Over the healthful, joyous, pure feelings of the
soul there is often cast the sickly hue of some unworthy
state. Our deeds are not wholly perfect, neither are our
emotions.

2. Progress consists in the increasing prevalency of
our good over our bad moods. The old man and the
new man are ever at war. One ought to be decreasing as
the other increases. Job's better part prevailed at last.

3. While man's estate is transitorial he should not de-
mand what belongs only to its completion. We live by
faith. Let us not ask for perfect knowledge yet ; that is
to come.

124 HINTS AND HELPS.

JOB'S CONFESSION AND RESTORATION.

Job 42:1-10.

We must first find the position of the passage in the
scheme of the book. Chapters 4-31 contain the discus-
sion of the reason why God permits trouble to come to the
righteous, between Job and his three friends. Chapters
32-37 contain the addresses of Elihu, a new speaker, who
rebukes both Job and his friends for some of their utter-
ances and justifies God. He lays emphasis on the thought
that suffering serves to open man's ear to heavenly in-
struction (36 : 10). Chapters 38-41 describe the appear-
ing of Jehovah upon the scene. It is to be noted that (a)
he does not charge Job with sin, (b) he does not offer any
direct solution of the problem which has been debated by
Job and his friends. He simply reveals his majesty.
Then comes Job's answer, chapter 42 : 1-6, followed by
the epilogue (in prose, Hke the prologue, ch. i, 2), which
recounts the restoration of Job's prosperity (42:7-17).
The lesson before us contains Job's reply to Jehovah and
part of the epilogue. It sets before us the result of Jeho-
vaKs coming into comrminion with Job,

I. The result inwardly.

A. Job's new knowledge.

I. He has a new knowledge of God — not new in its
facts exactly, but new in his appreciation of them. He
had heard of God by the hearing of the ear, but now he
could say that his eye had beheld him (v. 5). And the
result was not so much a knowledge that God is (for Job
never for a moment doubted that) as that he is omnipotent
C' thou canst do ever3^thing," v. 2), and wise in his provi-

JOB'S CONFESSION AND RESTORATION. 1 25

dence C' no purpose of thine can be restrained," v. 2, R.
v.). Every revelation of God to our hearts has for its
contents above the fact of God's existence the facts of his
character. God is never shown to us except with his at-
tributes. Whenever we find that he is, we at the same
time find something- of what he is. It is to be noticed
that this new knowledge (for old knowledge reemphasized
is sometimes so different as to deserve to be called new)
came to Job because he suffered. If he had not been
afflicted, and been troubled with perplexities about God,
the need of God's appearing on the scene would not have
been developed and Job would have been so much the
poorer. SufTering is always to us a means of our knowing
more about God if we let him come to us in connection
with it as he wishes to. The cross of trial does raise us
"nearer to Thee." It is noteworthy that when Job sees
God and learns of his attributes, the one attribute which
he has questioned and wdiich he would naturally w^ant
most to know about — justice — remains in the background.
Nothing is said of this, but only God's omnipotence and
wisdom are remarked. When God shows himself to us
we are satisfied, even though he does not show that part
of himself which we have most wanted to see.

2. Along with this knowledge of God there came to
Job a new knowledge of himself The words of God
(38 : 2) linger still in his mind, and he seems to be repeat-
ing them to himself ponderingly : '' Who is he that hideth
counsel without knowledge?" (v. 3). He recognizes the
words as applicable to himself, and says frankly that he
has been talking about things of which he is ignorant as
though he knew (v. 3). All along Job had been discuss-
ing God with his friends upon two assumptions : (a) that
he was able to know all about Him ; (b) that he did know

126 HINTS AND HELPS.

all about Him. But now he finds out that he was mistaken
in both. How difficult it is to know ourselves, especially
negatively. In a certain sense it is easier to know others
than to know ourselves. Many a man, listening to a ser-
mon, brings the application home vigorously to others,
but fails to see (like David when Nathan preached to
him) how it fits himself. In order to '' see oursels as ithers
see us" it requires a gift from ''some Power," no other
indeed than God. And the gift is very apt to come in
connection with a new knowledge of God, as in the case
of Job. It has often been said by Christian apologists that
we know God by knowing man ; that is to say, our moral
nature points to a perfect Being having a like moral na-
ture. We look into the face of man and we discover some
of the lineaments of God, for man was made in God's
image. In the same way if we look at God we discover
something about ourselves. We discover of course what
we ought to be. We see that we ought to be perfect in
the ways in which our Father is perfect. We discover
also that we are not thus perfect. A sight of the Infinite-
ly Holy therefore convicts us of sin. We learn what we
are by contrast with something else. The artificial white
with which we paint our houses is seen not to be an ideal
white when we compare it with the pure snow. Job saw
God, and at once he knew something novel about him-
self; ''therefore have I uttered that I understood not;
things too wonderful for me, which I knew not" (v. 3).

B. In connection with Job's new knowledge there
came a new state of heart.

I. He was willing to have his questionings unan-
swered. He does not say to God, " Thou hast told me
everything I wished to know," or " I know that thou wilt
let me understand some time." All thought of the vexing

JOB'S CONFESSION AND RESTORATION. 12/

problem of suffering seems to be forgotten. The vision
of Jehovah has filled his soul ; his trust is complete, and it
is so dominating that questioning would seem irrational.
Faith has silenced doubt. Faith is not the key to knowl-
edge always, but it does open to us an abode for the soul
where an understanding of the mysteries of providence is
not essential to our contentment. We are made not to
know some things. The question is how to be satisfied
while not knowing. And the answer is, By trust in God.
It is not along the Hne of knowledge anyway that satis-
faction lies for the craving heart. It is in the direction of
confidential, intimate fellowship with our Friend. It is
enough for us that He knows, even if we do not.

2. The appearance of God brought to Job the rare
virtue of humility. We cannot truthfully say that hereto-
fore Job had shown any excess of this virtue. The bold
way in which he challenged God to lay aside his omnipo-
tence and come and argue with him, the defi^ant, sarcastic
expressions he used in view of his unanswered appeals to
be righted, his announcement of his set rebelliousness of
mind, are not what we should call modest. But now,
having had some new insight into the character of God,
his majesty and glory, he ceases to protest, to declaim
about the injustice done him by his having to suffer. He
sees at once that the attitude of mind out of which his
bold words Godward had arisen was unbecoming one
who was but a creature. " Wherefore," he says, '' I loathe
my words" (margin R. V.). He confesses that they vv^ere
ill-advised. He recants. (Dillmann.) It is no mark of
greatness to fancy one's self infallible. To acknowledge
mistake is a sign of progress. Job was not half as great
(even intellectually, not to speak of character) when he
was confronting God with defiant questions as when

128 HINTS AND HELPS.

he came to such a lowly attitude that he had no questions
to ask.

3. Job goes beyond humility to repentance. He
says that dust and ashes are the best exponent of his state
of mind (v. 6). Repentance is open to any man who
thinks. Wherever there is a sin there is the opportunity
of turning from it. *' In Job's repentance all the marks of
evangelical repentance are found — submission and abase-
ment (v. 2) ; confession of sin (v. 3) ; humble and beUev-
ing prayer (v. 4) ; the revelation of God to the soul (v. 5) ;
and then the blessed result — self-knowledge, self-abhor-
rence, true, deep, lasting repentance." (Bayley.) What a
contrast between Job protesting his righteousness and
Job confessing his unrighteousness ! Job was a righteous
man in the relative sense, yet he came nearer the absolute
truth when he confessed himself a sinner. Boasting is
alwiiys dangerous ; repentance is always safe. And no
one, not even righteous Job, needs to hunt long for rea-
sons for repentance.

II. The result outwardly of Job^s coming into con-
nection with God.

I. His misfortunes were reversed and *' the Lord
gave Job twice as much as he had before " (v. 10). At
the end of his trials we find Job, not only in heart but in
external possessions, far richer than he had ever been.
We cannot infer from this that God will always literally
restore earthly prosperity for those who are afflicted by
its loss. No such rash generalization is hinted at in the
close of the book of Job. What we may reasonably
infer is that God controls outer things for good ends to us.
He could restore our lost friends from the grave, he could
give us back our lost possessions, he could endow us once
more with health, as he did for Job. But he chooses to

JOB'S CONFESSION AND RESTORATION. 1 29

deal with us in unmiraculous ways. We are not to infer
from this ever that the Lord's hand is shortened. But
he chooses his own way ; only it is always the way of
blessing through external things for those who love him.
The universe is in his keeping, all things are obedient
to him, and all things work together for good to them
that love him. If he does not grant us material pros-
perity as a compensation for trouble, as in Job's case, it is
for good reasons of his own, not at all for lack of power.

2. God transformed Job's sorrow into joy. We can
be absolutely certain in saying that some time and some-
w^here he will do the same for us if we are his. It may be
largely in this Hfe, as in the case of Job. We cannot tell ;
certainly we are never warranted in despairing. Our night
cannot be any darker than other nights have been that
have been followed surely by the day. But even if our
hopes of finding outward joy should be disappointed in
this life, the statement still remains true that sorrow and
sighing shall flee away in the world of glory to come. Job
and his friends argued out the question of sorrow with
their eyes fixed only upon the present life. But the area
of vision has been enlarged by our blessed Lord, who
brought life and immortality to light. The future is ours ;
there is a place of compensation ; there is a realm where
a smile is given for every tear of earth.

3. The result of God's coming into immediate con-
nection with Job was also that Job was able to be of ser-
vice to his friends. Jehovah was angry against the three
friends (v. 7). They had not spoken of God's provi-
dence the thing that was right. '^ By disingenuously cov-
ering up and ignoring its enigmas and seeming contradic-
tions, they had cast more discredit upon it than Job by
honestly holding them up to the light." (Green.) Through

Hints and Helps. V

I30 HINTS AND HELPS.

God's coming into connection with Job they were ap-
prised of their mistake and were shown how they might
propitiate God. And because of the favor in which Job
stood with God his prayer for them was efficient in
securing pardon (v. 8). It was not merely that the
friends were wrong in the words uttered in the contro-
versy ; they were wrong in the ideas which lay back of
them and which formed a part of their condition towards
God. This condition needed to be corrected. They
might not have found out that there was anything wrong
in it if it had not been for Jehovah's appearing before
Job, God coming to him was a means of his being a
blessing to others. It is so with ourselves. If God draws
nigh to us spiritually and gives us new insight into his
character and his ways of working, if he gives us a new
outpouring of his grace, it is in order that we, thus en-
lightened and enriched, may bring blessing to others. We
are not ignorant that our earthly possessions are a loan,
which we are to use in the service of God for the blessing
of men. But we sometimes forget that our spiritual bless-
ings are also an endowment of the same sort.

III. General lessons.

I. The conclusion of the book of Job shows to us the
mercy of God. God sometimes seems unmerciful, but it
is only seeming. Nature and natural laws seem cruel;
destiny appears hard. How can a merciful God permit
innocent children to suffer ? How can he let the weak
and helples.s bear the consequences of the sins of the
strong and wilful? Such questions are often asked to-
day. They are in another form the same question which
troubled Job. Why do the righteous suffer ? Job's ques-
tion was not answered. Our questions are not answered.
But it none the less remains true that God is merciful,

JOB'S CONFESSION AND RESTORATION. I3I

compassionate to such a degree that we are not able to
appreciate it. In deaHng with the character of God it is
the height of folly to infer that a thing, cannot be so be-
cause we cannot see how it could be so. Facts and our
measure of facts are two different matters.

*' For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.''

2. The most striking point in connection with the
conclusion of the book of Job is that Job's questions re-
main unanswered. The mystery of providence is unsolved.
Job and his friends brought out many explanations of the
affliction of the righteous only to find them inadequate.
The explanation known to us, that afflictions are not for
punishment, but for purification to those who love God,
was not apparent to them. They disappear from the
scene with their difficulties undiminished. The lesson of
the inexplicability of providence is very plain. Even we,
who know so much more of God's ways of dealing with
his children than Job did, see through a glass darkly. All
the mysteries are not yet revealed. We live by faith and
not by sight. To convince ourselves of this and to be
content and happy in it is to have learned how to live.

3. Yet Job was satisfied. It was better for him to
have Jehovah reveal himself and his glory to him than to
know all things he wanted to know. There is something
better than knowledge, something for which knowledge
would be no substitute : the peace of the soul in fellowship
with God. God ''may remove perplexities regarding his'
providence and ways from men's minds, but he does not
do so by the immediate communication of intellectual
light, but by flushing all the channels of thought and life

132 HINTS AND HELPS.

with a deeper sense of himself. Under the flow of this
fuller sense of God, perplexities disappear just as rocks
that raise an angry surf when the tide is low are covered
and unknown when it is full." (Davidson.) Job like
Thomas found something better than a literal answer of
doubts.

4. The supreme lesson of this sublime book is that
joy comes through submission to God. If we are trying
to find joy by widening knowledge, by solving difficulties,
we are using a means that is incongruous to the end. If
all our questions were answered satisfactorily it v/ould not
follow that we should be happy. Happiness for the hu-
man soul is not in conquest, but in being conquered ; not
in exaltation, but in humiliation. Save your life and you
lose ; give it up and you win. Not to know, not to get,
not to strive passionately for enjoyment, but to bow low
before God and his Christ, to bear the yoke, to obey, this
is the way to find the joy that passeth knowledge.

WISDOM'S WARNING. 1 33

WISDOM'S WARNING.

Prov. 1 : 20-33.

The book of Proverbs is a jewel-case well filled with
gems. There are fashions in gems as in other things.
Pearls were to the Orient what diamonds are to us. The
book of Proverbs has sometimes been thought of as dry
reading w^hen compared to other parts of the Bible. Dif-
ferent ages lay emphasis on diiferent parts of Scripture,
and doubtless it was meant to be so, for the Scripture
proves itself to be divine just by this versatility through
which it is able to offer to every age that which is most
suited to its needs. With us the book of Proverbs is
taking a new and more exalted position. We find that
there is unity in its variety and consistency in its diver-
sity. The commentaries that are appearing upon it show
revived interest in it. This may be because of the in-
creased attention given to ethics in our day, which finds
large stimulus in the book of Proverbs ; or it may be be-
cause without resorting to the allegorizing method which
used to deprive the book of its just teachings by loading
it with such as it did not truly contain, we are able to
find depths in its chapters that have heretofore been un-
guessed. To the merely literary student Proverbs is a
mine of fascinating glories. But for the devoutly reli-
gious reader it contains what is far better, real spiritual
food of the most nourishing quality.

The passage before us contains a delightfully Oriental
presentation of the truth of the call of God to the soul
of man. We have first the call (vv. 20-23), ^^d then the
results of the call (vv. 24-33).

134 HINTS AND HELPS.

A. The call of wisdom.

The idea of wisdom is peculiar to the book of Prov-
erbs. It Vv'ould be exceedingly interesting to bring to-
gether all the passages referring to it and formulate a
statement from them. But it must suffice to state simply
the results of such formulation. As the outcome of such
study three points emerge into view.

(i) By wisdom is meant the beneficent divine energy;
as such it is personified and represented as brought forth
and installed before the creation of the world and so asso-
ciated with Jehovah in his work of creation and provi-
dence, but especially as his agent in training the children
of men. Chapter 8 is the great passage on this phase
of the doctrine of wisdom. It is doubtful whether we
ought to seek to identify this personification of one of the
divine attributes with either person of the Trinity. It is
certainly true, as we shall see, that this Old Testament
idea has its fulfilment in our Saviour. But the personifi-
cation of an attribute is not the same as a person ; more-
over the personification is feminine and it shows many
traits belonging to the Holy Spirit. It is wiser therefore
not to press the identification. In doing so some have
unwittingly done violence to the Word of God.

(2) This divine energy comes into connection with
man and produces a reflection of itself in him. This is
wisdom on the human side. We see this meaning when
we are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom. In its human aspect wisdom is '' piety or God-
Hkeness of heart and hfe." (Butler.) The two aspects of
wisdom (i. e., wisdom as an attribute of God, and wisdom
as a reflection of that attribute in man) are thus com-
bined by Horton : " There is a unity in the Hebrew wis-
dom ; the unity is found in the thought of the Creator \

wisdom's warning. 135

all the facts of the physical world, all the problems of
human life, are referred to his mind ; objective wisdom is
God's being, which includes in its circle everything ; and
subjective wisdom, wisdom in the human mind, consists in
becoming acquainted with his Being and all that is con-
tained in it, and meanwhile in constantly admitting that he
is, and yielding to him the rightful place in our thought."

(3) The complete presentation of this divine wisdom
going forth for the enlightenment of men is found in
Jesus Christ. He is no personification of wisdom, he is
Wisdom itself Unto them which are called he is '* the
power of God and the wisdom of God" (i Cor. i : 24).
He '' of God is made unto us wisdom " (i Cor. i : 30). In
him '' are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"
(Col. 2:3). In him we are made wise- (i Cor. 4 : 10).
We are sometimes in danger of reading the New Testa-
ment too much into the Old. But we are never in any
danger in thus finding the Old fulfilled in the New. The
wisdom of which Solomon dreamed has been far more
clearly shown to us. We look upon it shining in the
face of Jesus Christ.

In the passage before us. Wisdom, the personification
of the divine energy, is picturesquely represented as a
woman, beautiful and attractive, who stands in the open
place at the gates of the city— which was the market-
place, council hall, and judges' bench all in one — where
she cries out loudly so that all can hear, and invites them
urgendy to come without money and without price and
receive instruction from her.

I. This call is ope7i. God proclaims his grace loudly
and everywhere. In all the myriad forms of nature, in
conscience, in providence, in history, in revelation, God
calls to the soul of man. No soul is exempt. The whole

136 HINTS AND HELPS.

market-place of the world resounds with the loud appeal.
Every cranny and every corner are penetrated, and all
the hidden souls, all those who are neglected and may be
forgotten of men, are reached by the divine voice which
finds every man out.

2. The offer made in the call is free. Wisdom prom-
ises to give instruction to all who will come and Hsten to
her. God promises wisdom from on high to every one
who will come and receive it. A man may be blind,
blinded by sin, and may say, '* I stumble because I can-
not see." Yes, but God stands by to give sight to all
who will take it, so that the stumbling sinner is without
excuse. We do not sin because we must, but because
we will not listen to the wisdom of God. Plato held that
in order to do the right all that was necessary was to
know the right. In that form the statement is not true.
But it is true that he who will receive God's wisdom,
freely offered without respect of persons, will be wise even
unto salvation.

3. All classes of men are touched by this call of God.
Simple ones — those who in their guilelessness are led
astray almost without knowing it; scorners — those who
are proud of being a httle bad and ridicule the scrupu-
lously upright from the point of view of a sophisticated
and wise worldhness; and fools — those who have hard-
ened themselves in sin and find righteousness to be far
from their thoughts — all are summoned by the divine
voice to come and learn how to live (v. 22). We see
here three degrees of degeneration in sin. For sin has
vitality and therefore growth, and when once it has taken
possession of a man it must either be altogether eradi-
cated, or else it will eradicate everything but itself in the
man. And all the way along this path of degeneracy

wisdom's warning. 137

God's voice calls to the sinner, whether he be only the
simple beginner or whether he have gone on into scorn-
ing or even to the extreme of folly. How wilful is man
in his sin, when one considers that at every step in it he
must resist the deterring voice of God !

4. God's call is urgent. He expostulates, " How long,
ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ?" he entreats, " Turn
you at my reproof;" he promises, '' Behold, I v;ill pour
out my Spirit unto you ;" he threatens and warns (vv.
24-32). God does not fling down an alternative to men
and then go away and let them settle it for themselves.
He urges, he begs, he pleads as a father dealing with err-
ing children whom he loves and would bring back from
error. He explains the consequences of sin, uses every
argument, and shows himself. Almighty God, in the atti-
tude of a suppliant, beseeching man to choose that which
is for his own happiness. Could anything be more touch-
ing than this picture of the pleading God ? Matthew
Henry has justly pointed out that this divine cry is " very
pathetic," and that it is well portrayed for us in the figure
of one who when here upon earth ''stood and cried"
(John 7 : 37).

B. The results of the call of Wisdom are set forth
(vv. 24-33).

I. Refusal oi Qtod!^ offer is possible, and consequen-
ces necessarily follow (vv. 24-32). It is an awful thing to
contemplate, this possibility of a man's turning his back
upon the pleading God. It is enough to make angels
weep. But the possibility seems to be necessary, as in-
volved in the freedom of the human will.

(a) This acceptance of sin puts man in the attitude of
the rejection of God, It is refusing his call, not regard-
ing his hand stretched out in invitation, setting at naught

138 HINTS AND HELPS.

his counsel, and rejecting his reproof (vv. 24, 25). It thus
sets man up as an enemy of God. Men resent this word
enemy. They say that an enemy is one who hates an-
other, but they are not conscious of hating God, and
therefore they object to the word as appHed to themselves.
But whoever thwarts or tries to thwart (no matter with
what motive) the plans of a king is an enemy, God has
plans for this world in which every human soul is meant
to take a part. To abandon that part, what else can it
be than to enroll one's self among the antagonists of the
King ? He that is not for God is against God^ and more
men are enemies of God than are willing to admit it.

(b) Because of the refusal of the wisdom of God, when
the day of fear at last comes like a storm that blackens
all the sky, and man wants God's wisdom to fly to as a
refuge, he finds that it is no longer available (vv. 26, 28).
Wisdom is portrayed as laughing and mocking at the men
who call upon her too late. This is a terribly realistic pic-
ture of the great truth that it is possible for man to call
upon God when it is too late. Not that it is too late for
God to help, or that God is unwilling to help, but that the
cry, coming out of a heart hardened in sin, is not the cry
of real repentance, but only of terror, and therefore God's
gift cannot come to that heart, even though he stands
ready to give it, because the heart has made itself incapa-
ble of true repentance. It has sometimes been said that
if the devils in hell repented truly God would forgive
them, but that they have made themselves ever increas-
ingly incapable of repentance, and therefore they are in-
creasingly incapable of forgiveness. If that should be a
mere speculation, still the idea at the foundation of the
statement is true as applied to men in this world. It is
true that God is ever ready to forgive the penitent soul.

WISDOM'S WARNING. 1 39

His word leaves no doubt of that. But emphasis must
be laid on the fact that the soul may harden itself so that
it cannot repent, and therefore cannot accept God's kindly
offers (see Heb. 12 : 17 ; Luke 13 : 24).

(c) Calamity comes upon those who reject the voice
of the Wisdom of God (v. 27). It comes as a terrific
storm, as an overwhelming whirlwind. We talk to-day
very much (and rightly) of the love of God. We are to
remember that it is one of the marks of God's love that
he tells us plainly the dark consequences of rejecting his
love. It is painful to think that a single human soul
should be lost, but the pain is beneficent (like warning
physical pain) if it le.ads us to seek God with all our
heart and to plead with dying men to turn away from
their sins to him. That calamity is the result of the refu-
sal of the offers of God is an arrangement with which we
have nothing whatever to do. Our acquiescence in it or
rebellion against it has no effect upon it. It has been
revealed to us not for our harm, but that its painfulness
may lead us into that course which is for our good. The
strongest retributive prophecies in the New Testament
are the words of the tender Son of God, and their strength
is just a mark of the depth of his tenderness.

(d) The retribution which comes upon those who
refuse to hear the voice of Wisdom is largely internal.
They eat of the fruit of their own way, they are filled
with their own devices (v. 31). If a man has to depend
for the sustenance of his spiritual life only upon his own
imaginings, the result is spiritual death. We can have no
worse fate than to be left alone. It is hell to be aban-
doned by God, abandoned to the unchecked development
of our own sinful tendencies. Then the time comes when
one can say, " Myself am hell."

I40 HINTS AND HELPS.

2. Let us bless God that there is another side to the
matter, that it is possible for men to hear and obey Wis-
dom^s voice. There is result for them too as well as for
those who hear and reject. The result to the obedient is
only lightly touched upon here.

(a) Part of it is safety (v. 33). The soul that depends
upon God is hedged about by strongholds better than the
mountains that are round about Jerusalem, even the arms
of the Almighty God. Against him temptation cannot
raise itself successfully, nor death nor hell. Nothing can
separate him from that eternally guarding love.

(b) Out of this comes quietude (v. 33). The peace
that passeth understanding comes to the heart, because
there is nothing able to reach past God's barriers to give
disquiet.

(c) This lesson has its fiill application in relation to
Wisdom incarnate, even tke Lord fesus Christ

1. He calls too with a voice more tender, more man-
ly, more heavenly than any other ever heard. From his
throne of triumph he salutes us, and pointing to the nail-
prints bids us be reconciled with God. Who can resist
such a voice ? '

2. But there are diverse consequences here also for-
those who answer this voice diversely. Christ plainly in-
dicated this. There are two ways, and two ways only, the
one of obedience to the voice, the other of disobedience ;
the one of eternal life, the other of eternal death. And
every man goes one way or the other. Which way is
yours ? The voice of Wisdom calleth. He that hath ears
let him hear.

THE VALUE OF WISDOM. I4I

THE VALUE OF WISDOM.

Prov. 3:11-24.

In this lesson we have something of the brighter side
of the subject of wisdom. In the last lesson we learned
how disastrous it is to reject the appeal of the divine voice.
Now we are to see how blessed it is to listen to it and obey
it. The words of God are not all warning. Many of them
are comforting and full of promise. And even the warn-
ing words are given to the end that we may find comfort
at last. So that all of God's messages to us are messages
oflight»

In a gnomic book like Proverbs we should not expect
to find a sequence of argument such as appears in the
writings of Paul. Proverbs is a cluster of gems ; Romans
is a chain of gold. The characteristic of one is not that
of the other. But usually we may divide the gem-clusters
or analyze them into minor groups to assist our medita-
tion upon them. This is possible in the group of apo-
thegms before us.

I. First we have a lesson about one way of learni7ig
wisdom (vv, ii, 12). This is by means of ''the chasten-
ing of the Lord." It is true the Hebrew word used here
means instruction (see margin R. V.), but it means in-
struction through chastisement, so that chastisement re-
mains the chief element connoted.

We have then the important thought brought before
our minds that the chastisement of God is one way by
which the heart of man is taught wisdom. This is not the
only way. In diverse modes God conveys his truth to
men. The world is full of voices, and they all speak of

142 HINTS AND HELPS.

God. But if all other voices sounded forth and the voice
of chastisement were silent, how many a man would miss
wisdom ! For there are some who heed no other voice
but this. They enjoy nature, they accept prosperity, they
read the revelation in Scripture, but nothing penetrates to
the heart. Then there comes some bodily affliction like
blindness, or property is all lost, or the dearest face in all
the world is laid away under the sod, and then, and not
till then, the heart finds God. Charles Simeon once vis-
ited an asylum near Edinburgh. He asked a blind man
some questions about his affliction and the result of it
upon his feelings towards God, and the answer was, '' I
never saw till I was blind ; nor did I ever know content-
ment when I had my eyesight as I do now that I have
lost it. I can truly affirm, though few know how to credit
me, that I would on no account change my present situa-
tion and circumstances with any that I ever enjoyed be-
fore I was blind.'' Many a time a life that has been friv-
olous or selfish or indifferent to spiritual things has been
led into the path of wisdom by affliction. A school teacher
sometimes fails to convey the lesson to the mind of the
pupil, until at last a sharp raising of the voice arrests the
wandering attention and secures the result. God some-
times has to let affliction come to us to make us listen and
learn as we ought; this is but the raising and sharpening
of his voice a little for our blessing. How unwise there-
fore to despise affliction, i. e., to hold it to be only '' hard
luck," to feel sure that God has nothing in it of teaching
for us. He would not let the chastening come unless we
had something yet to learn. When it does come, there-
fore, it behooves us to listen patiently and reverently.

We are to notice that here in Proverbs we find that
high meaning of suffering, for lack of seeing which Job

THE VALUE OF WISDOM. I43

was SO perplexed in his trials. And we are to notice also
that this is the highest interpretation of it, for even the
New Testament goes no further, but in its most sublime
passage of encouragement to those who are tried takes up
this very passage and expands it (Heb. 12:5). This
'* first distinct utterance of a truth v/hich has been so full
of comfort to thousands, the summing up of all controver-
sies, like those of Job's friends (Job 5 : 17), or our Lord's
disciples (John 9:2), as to the mystery of suffering"
(Plumptre), this first utterance is also the final utterance.
God's way of teaching us, even when it seems hard, must
be the best way for us.

2. The next lesson is that of the blessedness of zvis-
dom (vv. 13-15). The form in which this is expressed is
like that which begins the first Psalm, *' Oh the blessed-
ness of the man !" The exclamatory phrase is intended
to be exceedingly emphatic.

This blessedness is expressed in the way which would
mean most to an Oriental. To him things to be de-
sired would be considerably ornamental, like silver, fine
gold, rubies (or perhaps pearls, as some think, v. 15),
And then he is allowed to let his imagination run riot.
Let him think of anything in the world which he would
like to possess very much, wisdom is still infinitely more
to be desired (v. 15). If we translate these words into
ideas of to-day, we should say wisdom is better than
princely wealth, the highest possible social position, splen-
did political success, erudition of the first rank, libraries of
the most precious books, taste of the utmost refinement.
If we do not care for the silver and gold and rubies of the
Orient, we do care very much for these things and strive
for them with intense zeal. But wisdom is better than all
of them put together and multiphed a thousand-fold.

144 HINTS AND HELPS.

Christ puts the same idea in another form : let a man be
the emperor of the world, own everything in it, have every
soul a minister to his pleasure, and have the power of dis-
posing- of everything as he wills, still such an exalted po-
sition as that would be an awful loss if as the price of
having it the man had to forfeit the possibility of following
the wisdom of God. " For what shall it profit a man if
he shall gain the whole v/orld and lose his own soul?''

And why is it blessed thus to choose wisdom ? Rea-
sons are given. Wisdom is represented as a woman
holding out to men in her two hands the things which
men most desire. In her right hand is length of days,
and in her left riches and honor (v. i6). What man wants
most is life itself Without this all other things are noth-
ing, for the man is not here to enjoy them. This is the
condition of everything else. How is it that the pursuit
of wisdom secures length of life to man ? Are good men
miraculously granted long lives as a reward for their
virtues ? No, we do not presuppose miracle except where
it is necessary. Does the pursuit of wisdom tend natu-
rally then to give a man longer life ? Yes, we may say
without hesitation, it does. Premature death is either by
disease, accident, or suicide. The last is impossible to the
man who follows wisdom ; it is the part of the coward,
not of the morally wise. The second cause acts as well
upon the wise as the unwise. Wisdom does not exempt
one from the action' of providence. The tower of Siloam
falls on the just as well as on the unjust. The first cause
also acts upon both good and bad, but not under equal
conditions. The unwise man m^y induce death by dissi-
pation ; or if not going to that extreme, he may so weaken
his constitution that when he is exposed to disease he may
not be able to resist it or shake it off. Another form of

THE VALUE OF WISDOM. 145

unwisdom leads men so to set their hearts on the things
of earth that they break down the nervous system in their
mad anxiety, and disease is either directly induced, or if
accidentally met with, it is welcomed. The wise man,
who serves God in quietude and simplicity, has an even,
regular habit of life which tends to longevity. There are
many ways in which it might be shown that those who
choose the way of God's wisdom are not so apt to break
down under the assault of disease. Of the three causes of
immature death then, accident, disease, and suicide, we
may say respecting the first that the wise and unwise are
alike ; respecting the second, the wise man has the better
position ; from the third the wise man is wholly exempt.
Without summoning the aid of miracle at all, we are able
to see that it is literally true that godliness naturally tends
to longevity.

In the same way we might turn to Wisdom's left
hand and see that she really bestows riches and honor
upon those who obey her. We may not say that riches
and honor always go to the good and never to the bad.
Scripture warns us to the contrary constantly. But we
must believe, taking the world over, that it pays to do
right even from a worldly point of view. In the long run
prosperity and honor go to those who deserve them.
Our optimism necessitates our believing this. Godliness
hath promise for this life as well as for that which is to
come.

We do not need to prove that Wisdom's ways are
ways of pleasantness and all her by-paths full of peace
(v. 17). Where would you go to find those who truly
enjoy life ? To the epicure, the man of mental or bodily
dissipation, the ungodly rich, the frivolous ? Surely not.
These lives do not contain the formula of peace. Rest,
10

146 HINTS AND HELPS.

joy for the heart of man, is found only in God. It would
be strange if it could be otherwise, since God intended
that it should be so. God means that the man who
seeks the golden apple of pleasure shall find at last that
he has picked nothing but Dead Sea fruit, and that he who
seeks wisdom shall find the tree of life holding its richly
laden boughs down for him to pluck (v. 18). God in-
tends that happiness shall come only to those who retain
wisdom (v. 18), and it would be odd indeed if the laws of
life should work out some other end than that designed
by the Law-maker.

3. But where is this wisdom to be found ? The seat
of it is pointed out: it is in God (vv. 19, 20). Look out
at nature. There you see the heavens telling in every
sunbeam, in every star, of the glorious Intelligence which
gave them being. The ocean, thunderous or calm, speaks
majestically of a greater majesty than its own. The dew
gently falling upon the thirsty grass utters forth the
thoughtful love of One without whom not a sparrow falls
to the ground. Whoever wants to learn will go to one
who knows more than himself. The man seeking wisdom
looks up to Him whose superhuman wisdom is declared
in every rain-drop and every grass-blade. These are the
testimonials of the great Teacher who alone can give man
the learning of life. It is as foolish for a man to try to
live without asking the counsel of God as for a grass-blade
to try to grow without depending on God to know how.
And with surety it may be said that whoever earnestly
wants to know how to live will somehow find his way to
God. For he who seeks shall find.

4. The consequences of the receiving of wisdom are
told in part (vv. 21-24). They are such as life, grace,
safety, and peace. These have been touched upon already

THE VALUE OF WISDOM. I47

(vv. 16-18) in considering the blessedness of wisdom.
But grace, is a new element not mentioned before. Man
is made with the sense of beauty. What it is that satis-
fies it is hard to say. The definition of beauty has taxed
the ingenuity of every speculative philosopher from Plato
to Herbert Spencer. But we know either that a thing is
beautiful or that it is not, whether we are able to tell why
it is beautiful or not. And we know that there are de-
grees of beauty. There is sensuous beauty, like that of
the sunset, the flower, or the human face. There is intel-
lectual beauty, like that of an ode of Sophocles, or one of
Dante's visions, or a sonnet of Wordsworth. And there
is moral beauty, the highest of all, which is the grace of
lovely character. When Emerson with failing mind stood
beside the grave of Longfellow he said, " I cannot re-
member the name of this dear friend, but he was a beau-
tiful soul.'' Heaven is the most beautiful place of the uni-
verse, and its beauty is not sensuous, for the gold and the
jewels of John's vision are only symbols ; but it is the
beauty of purity, of holiness, the beauty that is reflected
by human hearts that stand in the white light of the pres-
ence of the holy God. Deeper than the rare beauty of
the human face, than the rarer beauty of the cultivated
mind, is the rarest of all beauties, that of character.

The life of wisdom of the Old Testament finds its ful-
filment in the life of the soul in Jesus Christ. And to us
the conclusion of this lesson is that the most valuable
things for man are in accepting Christ. The value of the
Christian life is made clear by taking up such things as are
sometimes supposed to be disadvantageous in it and see-
ing how they are transformed into blessings. Such things
as these are supposed to be unpleasant in it : its definite
committal, outspoken avowal, sacrifice of pleasure, loss of

148 HINTS AND HELPS.

independence, irksome duties. But when we once burn
our bridges behind us and commit ourselves to Christ, we
have a deep satisfaction in feeling that this important mat-
ter is settled ; if avowal of him sometimes is hard, yet we
have the compensating joy of being united in that avowal
with the best men of the ages ; if we must sacrifice some-
what, yet we are assured that a good Hfe must be happier
than a selfish one ; if we give up our independence and
self-will, we find that there is a higher joy in obedience ; if
duty seems irksome at first, it is gradually transformed as
we come to love Christ more, until we wish that he had
given us harder things to do, so that we might have more
to offer him as a testimonial of our love. Surely that life
which turns its own seeming disadvantages into positive
enjoyments must be the pleasantest life. Such is the life
of the soul in Christ, who is made unto us the wisdom of
God. His ways are ways of pleasantness and all his paths
are peace.

FRUITS OF WISDOM. I49

FRUITS OF WISDOM.

Prov. 12:1-15.

We have studied the doctrine of Wisdom theoreti-
cally (lesson 5) and also argumentatively (lesson 6). It
remains to look at it in the most literal detailed appHca-
tion to life. This is done in the passage before us. There
is no internal relation apparent between the separate
verses, so it will be most convenient to group them about
heads of our own.

Only two matters need introductory attention, (a)
The parallelism of the verses. Each verse is made up of
two members, the first giving the positive statement of a
practical truth, and the second giving the reverse in neg-
ative form. The reverse is not always the exact opposite
of the first member (e. g., verse i), but by the introduction
of new elements a pleasing variety is secured and thought
is stimulated. We may compare this with the rhymes of
Browning, which are sometimes made triflingly inexact for
the apparent purpose of relieving monotony and keeping
attention alert. The Proverbs illustrate the virtue of irreg-
ularity in regularity, (b) The people addressed are evi-
dently engaged in farming, and agricultural virtues are en-
couraged. But special advice is always the best, and we
have no difftculty in translating it into terms that fit our
circumstances. Advice to farmers is easily transformed
into advice for townsmen.

I. The relation of the man of wisdom to God, He
is in favor w4th the Lord, whereas the man of unwisdom
is condemned of God (v. 2). The book of Proverbs con-
tains many a piece of plain, homely, every-day advice;

I50 HINTS AND HELPS.

and some in reading it have thought it more prudential
and worldly than high-minded and spiritual. But they
have overlooked such verses as this, which are frequent
in the book. The ethics of Proverbs is most deeply reli-
gious. All moral obligations derive from the Creator,
and the foundation of wisdom is over and over again stated
to be in the fear of the Lord. This separates the book of
Proverbs from any ordinary collection of moral sayings,
such as '' Poor Richard's Almanac." Such collections lay
down prudential maxims without going to the root of the
matter like Proverbs. It is not so important to tell men
that they ought to do right (they know that already) as
to show them how they may do the right when they know
it. This is done by referring them to the source of right
conduct, which is in a right relation with God. Many a
moral teacher fails because he tries to lead men to pro-
duce an effect without a cause : he tries to induce them to
act right without first setting their hearts right. But the
man who is in favor with God, who has made his peace
with him through repentance and faith, is on the road to
goodness, and conversely the man who is on the road of
goodness is in favor with God.

2. The traits of character belonging to the wise man
are set forth partially here.

(a) He is truthful (v. 6). The wicked lay traps for
the righteous by means of lying ; but the righteous man,
by means of his candor, his straightforward truthfulness,
passes out of these snares unharmed. Often the machina-
tions of evil men have been defeated by the innocent sim-
ple-mindedness of their intended victim. The truth is
mighty and does prevail. Perhaps the most consummate
systematizer of deceit as a law of life was Macchiavelli,
and he found himself unable to escape the torture, for all

FRUITS OF WISDOM. 151

his skill in evasion. A man who lies '' 10 get out of a
scrape " is digging for himself a deeper pitfall than the
one he is trying to evade.

(b) The wise man is receptive. He is open in giving
out truth from his own mind, and he is open also to re-
ceive it from others. He loves to be led into the way of
knowledge, even though it be by means of correction,
whether from men or God (v. i). He does not think
that he '' knows it all ;" he does not fancy that whatever
he does is '' about right ;" rather he takes advantage
gladly of the knowledge and experience of others (v* 15).
We sometimes hear of pupils who know more than the
teacher ; they are those who have by their self-satisfaction
incapacitated themselves to learn at all. To want to
know involves the inference of not knowing. Many times
Proverbs emphasizes this idea of being willing to be
taught. It is a good thing to apply it with some self-
scrutiny to our own hearts.

(c) The man who follows wisdom has good practical
judgment. His thoughts are ''judgments,'^ i. e., are cor-
rectly formed; whereas the counsels (literally "steer-
ings") of the wicked are erroneous (v. 5). One decides
the questions of daily life wisely and successfully, while
the other, by imagining that he is going to gain some-
what by deceit, is led astray and makes blunders. If we
were in perplexity we v/ould not go for advice to a noto-
rious trickster, however brilliantly he may have succeeded
now and then ; but we would choose some honest, thought-
ful, far-seeing man of God as our counsellor. His judg-
ment we feel we could trust.

(d) The man of wisdom is industrious. ^^ Better is he
that is lightly esteemed and serveth himself (LXX.) than
he that honoreth himself and lacketh bread ^' (v. 9). That

152 HINTS AND HELPS.

is, the man who humbles himself to bear a burden of daily-
toil is better off than the man whose pride will not permit
him to work. The world has no use for the idler, and he
has no use for himself. His foolish pride makes him a
laughing-stock and leads him into distress. The man
who goes to work is taken care of somehow ; but to run
with empty-headed idlers is the height of folly (v. ii).
The teaching of the Bible is that work is one of the neces-
sary conditions given to life. by God. It is not strange
therefore, seeing that it is God's intention that it should
be so, that the idler fails to have what he wants of this
world's goods, fails to have respect from his fellow-men,
and fails to be happy in the solitude of his own heart.
Idleness is a civil wrong ; it is a wrong against one's own
soul (whose capacities are developed only under the stress
of work), and it is a wrong against God.

(e) The wise man is kind-hearted (v. lo). Even for
the beast he is thoughtful. Respect for the feelings of
animals has sometimes been thought to be lacking in the
Bible. But it appears repeatedly (Exod. 20: lo; 23 : 4, 5 ;
Jonah 4 : 11, for instance). The feeling of kindness is one
broad temper of thought running through man's whole
disposition. It is not Hmited to a part of the area of
man's relations, but it influences everything. A man who
is unkind in one direction, even though he be kind in all
else, we do not call a kind man, any more than we would
call a man truthful who lied about money matters, even if
he were strictly veracious in everything else. Truthful-
ness is a temper of heart which must appear in every
activity of the man, and kindness is a like tempen There-
fore if you see a man beating his horse cruelly, you do not
call him kind, although you ma}^ know that when he goes
home at night he fondles his children on his knee with in-

FRUITS OF WISDOM. 1 53

tense joy; Nor would you call a child kind-hearted who
pelted animals with stones and pulled off the wings of in-
sects, even if he were very affectionate towards his mother.
True kindness makes prompt response to anything which
appeals to it, whether it be man or beast. Notice that
among the prudential virtues Proverbs does not fail to
include those which are disinterested. The charity which
Paul so magnificently honored finds its foreshadowing in
the Old Testament.

3. The wise man in his relations with other men,

(a) He has honor from others. They commend
him, whereas they look dovi^n on the man of folly (v. 8).
The desire for honor is one of the strongest motives of the
heart. And in order to satisfy it men are sometimes
tempted to do dishonorable things, and by this inconsist-
ency they deprive themselves of the possibility of having
that very thing which they seek. What real satisfaction
could there be to Nero when (after using the most diabol-
ical means to secure his purpose) he found himself saluted
as a god by a fawning court, if he knew that every smi-
ling courtier hated him, and that not a soul in his empire
truly loved him ? Honor dishonorably won is not honor.
Honor is a feeling in the hearts of others towa^rds us. It is
often denoted by outward signs. But the signs are mean-
ingless without the feeling. The man therefore only has
true honor whose name is honestly revered. And such
reverence comes only to that nobility of character whose
spring is in that heart-wisdom which consists in the fear
of the Lord.

(b) Such a character brings honor to others as it
associates with them. They are lifted up by being con-
nected with it. This is illustrated by the example of a
good woman (v. 4). She is like a crown to her husband.

154 HINTS AND HELPS.

Men admire him because of his relation to her. • Many a
man has derived distinction from his connection with a
godly father or his friendship with a devout man. Even
when such relationships are natural and not of choice they
give honor. And when they are the products of choice
(as in friendship or marriage) the honor is of still higher
grade ; for who would not love to have it known that he
had been taken into the close intimacy of a pure noble
heart ? Being thus received shows that there must be
something in the man worthy of such a friendship, and so
it is an indirect testimonial of character. A good man
goes through life bringing blessings far beyond what he
can estimate to all he m.eets.

(c). Such a wise man is safe from embroilments with
others. A man w^ithout principle is always getting into
troubles from which the righteous escapes (v. 13). Sins
with the lips are not generally estimated by us justly.
They seem very secondary sins. But they are constantly
emphasized in the book of Proverbs and equally constant-
ly in* the New Testament' (e. g., James 3: 5, 6). An evil
word is so intangible that it seems far less of a sin than a
blow. But it has often been pointed out (as by Canon
Liddon) that the greatest sins are not those which are
grossest. If we men were without bodies, still we should
be capable of the most abandoned crimes of heart. The
wise man watches his lips. Out of his good heart come
good words, and so he is not involved in disputes and
wranglings wdth his neighbors. He is a peace-maker ra-
ther than a peace-breaker, and so shows himself to be a
true child of God (Matt. 5 : 9). It needs heavenly wisdom
to direct us how to speak. Words slip so easily from us,
and are so fraught w4th consequence beyond our desire,
that safety is only in a heart always subdued to the Wis-

FRUITS OF WISDOM. 155

dom that " ever waketh." Every morning we should
pray, '' God help me this day that my words may be
gracious, loving, and laden with blessing to all I meet."

4. The results to himself oi the wisdom of the good
man. These have been largely dealt with in lesson six.
But the method of Proverbs is iteration. A thing only
once said is not well said. We need to have truth ever
ringing in our ears. The noise of the world drowns it,
but if it will only persist in sounding, its constancy will at
last command attention, like the ringing of a chime amid
the stir of the city.

(a) The wise man has a return for his devotion to
that which is good. Satisfaction is dealt out to him, and
his uprightness is not unrewarded (v. 14). Here we have
the old, the new, the ever forgotten, the never invahd
truth that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also
reap. This is especially emphasized by the naturalistic
philosophy of our day. No one could teach more strong-
ly than Herbert Spencer that consequences follow conduct.
But naturalistic philosophy is fatalistic. Its teaching of
the law of consequences is apparently useless since it
holds that a man cannot help doing whatever he does. The
only thing left for him to do is to mourn that there is such
a law as that of consequence, which is a sorrow that is
without hope. The Bible hov/ever teaches men this law,
and at the same time tells them that they are not fated to
do wrong, but may choose the right if they will, so that by
seeing plainly the diverse results of conduct, they may be
led to choose that which is right. The knowledge that
there is a sure return for whatever we do thus becomes a
powerful motive to action.

(b) The character of the result is described in both
directions. The wicked urge themselves onward into a

156 HINTS AND HELPS.

net ; they seek protection with evil men, but fail to find it
(either meaning is possible, v. 12). In any case they fail.
Whereas the righteous are like trees that bear good fruit,
or their roots are strong to protect them (see Plumptre on
the passage). In a word, failure comes to the bad, pros-
perity to the good. We have seen before this that this
generalization is safe even for this life. It is more appa-
rent when we bear in mind the world that is to come.
The world is made so that righteousness shall pay. It
would be passing strange if any feeble son of man were
able to thwart the intentions of the Almighty God.

(c) Stability is especially noted as one of the rewards
of the good (vv. 3, 7). It is the same thought which we
find in Christ's parable of the house built upon the rock.
What desperate efforts men make to give stability to some
part of themselves, though it be only their name. Turn
to the carved walls of the Assyrian palaces, the pyramids
of Egypt. Such persistence is very shadowy. God offers
us one that is better. He holds out to us an eternity of
personal life if we will only bring ourselves into connection
with him who is in himself eternal. If God takes us to
himself we shall last as long as he lasts — for ever. And
the way to him is open through wisdom, wisdom incar-
nate in the person of Jesus Christ.

AGAINST INTEMPERANCE. 15/

AGAINST INTEMPERANCE.

Prov. 23:29-35.

The dangers of intemperance are taught to us in
many forms in the Bible. It is one of the horrors of the
subject that it has so many sides and all so full of sadness
and terror.

The passage before us from the Proverbs confines
itself to one phase of the matter — the effect of intemper-
ance upon the man himself Sometimes the result of
study is made more impressive by a limitation of the area
of thought. It is so here. We leave out of account for
the time being the effect of a man's intemperance upon his
family and friends, upon posterity, upon society, upon the
State, and upon his relations to God. We are to think
only of its effect upon himself There is not any attempt
made to argue the matter, but many thoughts upon the
theme are uttered just as they crowd themselves upon the
writer's mind. And the result is all the more impressive
because of this fragmentary way of thinking and speak-
ing. The impression upon our minds is as though the
writer had said, ''This is a terrible subject; contempla-
tion of it distracts and confounds me. I can only utter a
few exclamations; for if I should attempt to tell delib-
erately and at length the fulness of the woe of drunken-
ness, it would be past endurance." Perhaps it may assist
our thought to arrange these fragmentary and explana-
tory utterances into a sequence.

1. We see the delusiveness of this sin as it addresses
itself to man's mind. It is very tempting in its promises
and very cruel in its fulfilment (vv. 31, 32). It seems

158 HINTS AND HELPS.

only beautiful and lovely as it approaches us. The wine
is red with a rich color ; it sparkles with brilliant bubbles
(" it giveth its color in the cup ^' is literally it giveth ''its
eye " — that is, it shows beaded bubbles — in the cup) ; it
goeth down the lips smoothly with a pleasant sensation
(R. v., for it ''moveth itself aright")- No one can say
that this old writer did not know what could be said '' in
praise of wine." All the bacchanal rhapsodies of fanciful
and ardent minds from Anacreon down to Robert Inger-
soll are presupposed in these realistic words of Proverbs.
Yes, the wine does please the eye and the taste. Why
deny it? But what of it? ''At last it biteth like a ser-
pent and stingeth like an adder." The pleasure may be
real, but so is the payment that maist be made for it. No
account is balanced until both debit and credit sides are
footed up. This is what the old Greeks meant when they
said, " Count no man happy until his funeral." The gay
drinker may be having his pleasure without doubt, but
do not call him a happy man until you see him after he
has paid the bill. A man may find it delightful to read
without interruption everything he can lay his hands
upon. But we do not think him happy when he has
ruined his eyesight. Call no pleasure pleasurable until
you have asked what the cost is to be. If all there were
to wine-drinking were the agreeableness of the act no one
would question its delight. But when one remembers
that for it he may have to give everything that is worth
having, both in this and the future life, how can he bring
himself to name it in the class of pleasures at all ?

2. The frazfs of disposition which result from wine-
drinking are touched upon.

(a) The drunkard is contentious (v. 29). Those who
undertake the graceless part of defenders of drinking

AGAINST INTEMPERANCE. 1 59

assert that the greater crimes, such as arson, burglary,
conspiracy to murder, are not due to liquor, but on the
contrary require cool deliberation ; that offences against
law which have their rise in drinking are mostly assault
and battery and such like. So be it ; but notice the curi-
ous line of argument : drunkenness is a cause of crime,
but not of the greatest crimes, because a drunken man
.cannot be deliberate, and deliberation is necessary to the
greatest crime. That is to say, a drunkard may be in a
habitually contentious mood, and in it may murder a man,
because the drunkard is not responsible. In other words,
all agree that the result of drinking is often a quarrel
whose end is death, but it is alleged that this must not be
called a great crime, because it was done in drink. That
is to say, the cause of the crime is pleaded as its pallia-
tion. Could any reasoning be more unreasonable than
that which holds out the cup to the man and says, ^' This
cup may lead you to murder ; but do n't worry, because
the murder will not be bad since it is due to the cup " ?
Contentiousness is a patent outcome of wine. This in
itself is bad enough, but in how many cases has it led to
that which is most awfully worse !

(b) The drinker is a discontented man. He is always
complaining (v. 29). It is a joke among drinkers that a
man takes whiskey because the weather is too hot, and
that he also takes it because it is too cold. The jest
touches upon a common characteristic of the drinker —
his discontent. Things do not please him, his business
goes wrong, his home is too full of cares, his friends dis-
appoint him, life does not offer to him the pleasures he
craves ; if he has them they are not satisfying, and so on.
He says he drinks to drown his discontent. But could it
not truly be said of most of such men that their discontent

l6o HINTS AND HELPS.

is the result of their drinking ? The drunkard has fast-
ened upon himself voluntarily a craving which cannot
possibly be satisfied, which gives restlessness to his whole
being.

(c) The drunkard loses his mind. For the sake of a
passing pleasure he surrenders God's noble gift of intelli-
gence, and for the time submits to being a disgusting im-
becile. He imagines that people are beating him, and yet
he is not hurt (v. 35). He is no longer able to judge of
events ; he cannot estimate properly his own feelings ; he
has sacrificed thought; he has unmanned himself It is
astonishing that the most clever of all our funny papers
should derive so much of its funniness from stories of
drunken men. Is there anything about a man who has
turned himself into a beast that is capable of appealing to
any feeling in us but that of shame ? We remember hard-
ened criminals who have jested on the scaffold ; but we
do not laugh at their jests, however witty they may really
have been. The disgrace of drunkenness ought to make
the finding of fun in it impossible.

(d) The drunkard is a reckless man. He has aban-
doned that discretion which came from God by natural
endowment and through experience. All that life could
teach him he forsakes, and lives on in wild disregard of
conduct's consequences. He is like a man who is so
ignorant of seafaring that he lies down to sleep when the
ship is sinking in the trough of a tumultuous sea or who
goes to sleep on the top of a mast without any thought of
the danger of falling (v. 34). Courage in the face of dan-
ger is one thing ; recklessness is another. The drunkard
is reckless. He reasons like the ostrich, who thinks it
must be safe because it has buried its head in the sand.
Think of the men, flushed with wine, who have staked

AGAINST INTEMPERANCE. l6l

everything they had in the world, the inheritance of an-
cestors, the accumulations of years, upon a single chance
at cards ; of the men who by drinking have brought all
their ordinary sense of honor into such abject subjection
that it is nothing to them to keep company with black-
legs whom they would scorn to recognize on the street ;
of men who under a passing fit of anger have been led to
murder brothers, fathers, children, wives, because the
voice of reason, which would have checked them, had
been drowned in drink. What a horrible spectacle it is,
this of men abandoning the precious guide given to us
by God for the indulgence of the palate for a moment !
3. The results of drinking are suggested in part.

(a) The speech of the drunkard is bad. His heart
utters fro ward things (v. 33). You expect to find a
drunken man full of profanity and indecency. No matter
how correct his words may be ordinarily, now he is
changed so that you could not believe it if you did not
hear it. It would be hard to say why evil speech should
accompany drinking. What necessary connection is there
between them? Is the evil in the heart, and does the
man in his imbecility speak forth his real self? Is he
profane because in vino Veritas ? Or does wine give a
man unholy lips who in general might be called a good
man ? Whatever be the cause, the fact is indisputable.
Who can forget the time when as a child he saw for the
first time a drunken man being arrested ? How incom-
prehensible and shocking were those reckless oaths, those
volleys of indecent words ! The child's appalled wonder
is the proper feeling in view of such a disgraceful scene.
Pity is it that any man should outgrow the sense of its
disgracefulness.

(b) The body is harmed by drink (v. 29). We can
II

l62 HINTS AND HELPS.

take this in a figurative sense, that the body is wasted
and disabled by the internal effects of intemperance ; or
in the literal sense, that a man who is drunk is apt by his
falls, his inability to protect himself from assault, his rush-
ing unconsciously into danger, to expose himself to bruises
and hurts which ought not to have come upon him. They
are unnecessary wounds, because he might have avoided
them. They had no purpose in them, like the wounds of
a soldier, which he is willing to risk receiving for the sake
of his country. The drunkard's wounds are wounds with-
out a cause. Just as a college commencement was ap-
proaching a senior fell down stairs in a drunken stupor
and bruised his face badly. He had hard work devising
lies to explain his appearance ; for his wound was a wound
without a cause. Men are sometimes willing to suffer for
some adequate end. But who is willing to suffer for noth-
ing? Only the man who has had his judgment taken
away by drink.

(c) The drunkard tends to become possessed of all
kinds of evil desires. His eyes behold strange women
(R. V. margin of v. 33). Lusts awaken in him and sway
him without a protest which he would have scorned with
loathing when sober. How many a man has awakened
in a place of shame, hanging his head in disgust with him-
self, and wholly ignorant of when or how he came thither !
The brothel and the saloon always adjoin. The danger of
the wine-cup is that it beats down all those restraints upon
character which we cultivate and always mean to respect.
If the drinker had his wits about him he would not follow
those who seduce him into every degrading sin. But the
trouble is he has abandoned his wits ; he has practically
put himself voluntarily at the mercy of any other will that
will exert itself over him. And as those in the drinking-

AGAINST INTEMPERANCE. 163

places are usually men of low desires, the drinker readily
consents to let vile dispositions dominate him for the time.
Why then should he be surprised if he wakes from his
drunken sleep to find that he has descended into most
despicable sins ? He ought rather to be surprised at his
voluntarily entering into a resort of evil-minded men and
saying in effect, '^ I intend to abandon my self-respect, my
principles, for a time, and I offer myself to you to do with
me what you will."

4. This way of living becomes permanent. In its
origin drunkenness is but an episode ; in its conclusion it
is a character. What a man does once he tends to do
again. Every committal in conduct involves a pledge for
the future. A man cannot exempt himself from this law
any more than he can exempt himself from breathing as a
necessity of life. Every drinker tends to become more
of a drinker, whether he desires it or not.

(a) This permanence is shown in the deliberateness
of the drunkard's full-grown folly. He tarries long at the
wine ; he spends time and thought, which were meant for
better things, in devising new kinds of mixtures where-
with to tickle his palate (v. 30). It is for this reason that
the drunkard belongs with the persons called fools in
Proverbs. These are not silly weak men who know noth-
ing, but deliberate, cold-blooded sinners against God. A
drinker finds himself going to excess and knows he ought
to stop ; but he is more apt to go on, and to spend thought
not on how he can protect himself from falling, but on
how he can make his sinning more agreeable.

(b) And so the habit fastens itself more and more
firmly upon him, until at last, even when he is grovelling
in the lowest depths, he still calls ever for more of that
which has brought him there. He Is longing to awake —

1 64 HINTS AND HELPS.

and reform? Not so. In order that he may seek it
again (v. 35). The more a man drinks the more he does
not want to stop. Moderate drinking will be impossible
when men are not governed by the law of habit.

It is not necessary to reason on what we have seen.
It is enough to let the horror of it burn itself deeply on
our minds.

THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 165

THE EXCELLENT WOMAN.

Prov. 31:10-31.

" For silence and chaste reserve is woman's genuine
praise, and to remain quiet within the house." So Eu-
ripides witnesses to the negative position of woman in the
old Greek world. " Fashionable doctors speak and write
about two diseases alone ; gout they give to men, nervous
exhaustion to women." So writes Lady Catharine Gas-
kell after describing the multitudinous duties of the soci-
ety woman of to-day. Where is woman's place between
these two extremes ? We might try to answer by asking,
What in her has been most admired? from Chaucer in
" A Praise of Women," down to Tennyson's " Dream of
Fair Women." But the things for which they have been
praised have not always been the things for which wo-
men ought to have been praised. Or we might turn to
that large body of essays which has within a few years
occupied so considerably the pages of the English Re-
views. We might listen to Mona Caird reviling marriage
and to Mrs. Lynn Linton retorting with her arraignment
of ''The Wild Woman." What ought woman to be?
The Word of God can tell us a good deal about that yet,
and to it we turn rather than to the poets and essayists.

We may note three things concerning woman as she
is portrayed in the Proverbs.

(i.) Her power both for good and evil is emphasized.
She is recognized as important in the social structure.
She is not a negligible quantity.

(2.) Her position as portrayed here gives us a high
estimate of the life of the Jews as a nation. They were

l66 HINTS AND HELPS.

tenacious of national life in a remarkable degree, and
they produced many noble women. The two things are
correlated, for it has been well said that you can always
tell of a nation's character from the character of its wo-
men.

(3.) The Jewish woman was a wife and mother. To
her this was what God had planned, therefore to her this
seemed the noblest possible position. She had strength
of mind and will, but she did not employ them in disloca-
ting God's scheme of human society. She was not a
** wild woman," nor was she only a " patient Grisel." She
took the place God made for her and filled it excellently,
and in that for any one in any place lies the highest suc-
cess in life.

We are not to assume that the passage in Prov. 31 in
praise of woman is to be taken as a complete summary of
her virtues, for some of the chief virtues (purity, e. g.) are
not named. Nor are we to assume that the space given
to the industrial virtues would indicate that the writer in-
tended to exalt them as higher than others that could be
named. Some things are assumed and therefore unex-
pressed, and other things are conspicuously emphasized,
perhaps because they needed to be impressed upon the
people of that time.

I. The virtue most dealt with is industry. The good
woman gathers materials for making the household cloth-
ing and ''her hands joy in work" (v. 13). At great
trouble she may have to do this, but no undertaking of
the sort is too imposing for her, for she has the vigor of
attack of a bold sea-merchant (v. 14).

There is something beautiful in such a ready accept-
ance of one's lot in life. In these hurrying ambitious
days men are full of a restless discontent. They want to

THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 167

be something other than they are. They project them-
selves in their dreams into places where they will not have
to do what lies upon them now. To escape the burdens
of life is their great desire. And if these cannot be es-
caped and one seems to be destined always to the routine
of work, there lies open the door of suicide. The rate of
suicide, Morselli tells us, increases with the increase of
civilization. CiviHzation means opportunity. It holds
out large prizes to men ; it invites them to dream of ab-
sence of toil for themselves. But in that way lies not joy.
Rather look to this model Hebrew woman accepting with
a cheerful and masterly mind the place God has given
her, bound to do her best to satisfy its conditions, and so
destined to genuine content. A man who does not want
to work may succeed in escaping work perhaps, and jus-
tify himself before men, many of whom will say, '' Neither
would we work if we did aot have to f but how can he
justify himself before God? How can he eat a crust of
bread with a satisfied conscience when he reads the
words, " If any will not work, neither let him eat " ? To
work is God's intention for us, and if we have any thought
of wishing to live for Him, work will not be to us an epi-
sode so disagreeable that we are to escape from it as soon
as possible, but rather that for which we were made and
that in which we ought to be most at home.

II. The model woman is efficient in the management
of her household. The opening of this description of
woman is, '* Who can find a virtuous woman ?" The
word virtuous refers not so much to purity as to adapta-
tion to the place where God has put her. The meaning
is, " Who can find a capable woman ? For her price is
far above rubies." Her capability is shown in her ad-
dressing herself in strength to the exigencies of her place

l68 HINTS AND HELPS.

(v. 17). In the dark hours of the morning she is up in
order to get her maids to work (v. 15)— a very necessary-
thing in an Oriental country, where midday is no time for
labor. She watches her servants that they do not slight
their tasks (v. 27). And as a result of her efficiency her
household do not worry about being provided for against
winter (v. 21), nor is she without due apparel for herself
(v. 22). In confident knowledge of her wise care she
may laugh at the future (v. 25).

It requires wisdom to do anything well. Watch the
stone-mason laying a wall, the clerk doing up a bundle,
the girl dusting a room. If these are good workmen in
their several occupations, you will see every moment the
result of intelligence applied to the accomplishment of
even the humblest task. It is precisely the same thing
that makes a great general or a great statesman ; it is
mastering intelHgence applied to the details of his work.
The necessity of this efficient dealing with our duties
makes valid the proverb, '' What's worth doing at all is
worth doing well." The ideal woman uses her good
sense to advantage in the management of the home.
Home duties are not slighted in order that that intelH-
gence may exert itself upon books or art or society or
anything else whatever. But it is assumed that nothing
is more worthy of one's most acute thought than the in-
conspicuous duties of the home. Let a man exert faith-
fully his reason on his w^ork, and success will come. Let
a woman spend the best energies of her mind on her
home, and that home will be a success. Husband and
children will not fly from it to be amused elsewhere ; but
they will love to be in it (as she herself will love to be in
it) because it will satisfactorily answer the home-longing,
one of the deepest wants of the human heart.

THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 169

III. This ideal woman is full of enterprise. She sees
a field that can be used to advantage and buys it; she
plants vineyards (v. 16); she manages exchanges of mer-
chandise (v. 18) ; she makes linen and girdles beyond
her household needs and sells them to the passing trader
(v. 24). This shows the Oriental woman in an unusual
light. We have thought of her, even among the Jews, as
having nothing to do outside the home ; but here we see
her portrayed as doing a thriving business, as making
exchanges and buying property, and so increasing her
husband's wealth. There is something very homely and
natural in this portrait of the thrifty housewife turning an
honest penny when occasion offers. This is the overflow
of her exuberant interest in the prosperity of her house-
hold. It is not for herself she does these things, not to
get a name for success in something not natural to wo-
men, not to get money to squander on herself No, the
enterprise she shows points us back to the home : it is for
this she does all her shrewd thinking. The home still is
the theatre of her life, and these excursions into the world
all derive excellence from her recognition of their subser-
viency to her life-work — that of making home blessed for
all in it. She recognizes but one calling in hfe ; this she
tries to fulfil to the utmost, and so strenuously that the
world outside is levied upon by her active brain and made
a helper to her in her one purpose. Her business enter-
prise is thus not a sign of her seeking new interests out-
side of the home, but on the contrary a sign of her greater
devotion to it. Home over everything, everything for
the home, is her idea. No wonder the Hebrew nation
had the strongest home-feeling of any in ancient history.

IV. With all this, the ideal woman is sympathetic.
She does not forget the poor (v. 20). She may have a

I70 HINTS AND HELPS.

vigorous mind, which makes her rule her household well
and watch eagerly and sharply after its interests* But
these things do not make her a hard, calculating person
of business. She is still a woman, full of sympathy for
the unfortunate, ready to help the unsuccessful. The cal-
culating business instinct we have ^seen in her might lead
us to expect that she would not be susceptible to the call
of suffering. But her business-like quaHties are redeemed
and glorified because they all centre in the home. Back
of the calculating mind lies the warm throbbing heart,
thrilled with the highest emotions. That warm love of
the home, that watchful solicitude for all the wants of
those in it, young and old, make her feel it when any one
lacks anything. She has thought and worked so hard
that her household might not suffer, that when some on^
not in her home comes before her in want she acts as she
would act if it were one of her household, and reaches
forth her hand in relief. What a necessary modification
this is of the frugal care of those one loves. We must not
love even them selfishly. A hard-saving man once bought
a house, and from that moment refused to let his wife or
himself give a penny away until his house was paid for.
That may have been the kind of charity which begins at
home, but it was not Christ's charity. Rowland Hill may
have done well when he forbade any one in the congrega-
tion to give who had n't paid his debts. But no man, for
the sake of personal comfort, ought to incur such debts
as will prevent his giving to others. The days on which
a man cannot give are surely dark days in life.

V. The ideal woman is wise of speech (v. 26). She
is the counsellor of the household, giving good advice
and teaching them that kindness which is life's truest wis-
dom. And there is no place where a deeper wisdom is

THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 1 71

needed than in the home. The easy running of home
affairs makes a great difference in the happiness of every-
body. What skill, what tact, what insight into disposi-
tions, what knowledge of ways and means is required that
this end may be secured. Moreover, home is where the
character of the children is being formed. How quickly
the pettishness or unreason or frivolity of the mother is
reflected in the child ! If her judgments of conduct, the
conduct she sees before her in the home, are the products
of inconsiderate impulse or unwise social custom or in-
difference to good, the child's ideals of life are set low.
But if she "sees life clearly and sees it whole," if she
looks beyond upon the wide stretch of eternity, if there is
in her heart truly that wisdom which cometh from above,
then the child's vision rises and stretches out to a wide
horizon. The widest empire does not offer a more digni-
fied throne for the exercise of high wisdom than the
mother's seat in the home.

The results of such a good woman's life are visible.

(a) She has a happy husband. His heart trusts her ;
he knows that his home will be well taken care of; he
gets from her only blessing (vv. ii, 12). He is con-
strained to praise her (v. 28). And when he goes out
into public life to perform there the duties of a citizen,
the blessedness of having a good wife goes with him and
adds special grace and dignity to his position (v. 23).

(b) She has appreciative children. They rise up
and call her blessed (v. 28). God has so arranged the
relation of parent and child that there shall be a predis-
position to affection, whether it is merited or not. The
boy still has some admiration and attachment for the
father who unjustly beats him. There is a natural affec-
tion in every heart. But how much more tender this is

1/2 HINTS AND HELPS.

when it has justified itself, when thoughtful solicitude,
careful wisdom, dignity and honesty and sincerity, win a
second love from the heart. Love with honor is the best
love of all, and this the true mother has from her chil-
dren.

(c) She has 2. good name (v. 31). Her work stands
for itself, and all recognize its worth. She may or may
not have beauty (v. 30), but her fear of the Lord gives
her something for which many a woman would give all
loveliness of face and every other possession : she has
respect from those about her.

May God through this lesson give to many a girlish
heart a new dream — not of fair, but — of good women, that
shall reproduce itself in a strong, gentle, wise life.

REVERENCE AND FIDELITY. 1 73

REVERENCE AND FIDELITY.

EccLES. 5 :i-i2.

The book of Ecclesiastes tells the story of one who
tried to satisfy his soul with many things incapable of
satisfying it, such as pleasure, riches, splendor of life,
and study, who at last sought the fear of the Lord and
in that found the only thing which could give rest to his
heart.

In the first four chapters the story of the wandering
of his soul has been told. With chapter five begins a
series of proverbial sayings somewhat like those of the
book of Proverbs, but showing more internal connection.
These represent some of the experimental knowledge
which had come to the heart in its chase after many
things. It is not necessary that we should study them in
connection with the rest of the book, but we may use
them, as we do the Proverbs, as condensations of wisdom,
each having a completeness in itself These wise sayings
group themselves under three heads.

I. Worship (vv. 1-7). " Take care when thou goest
to the temple or synagogue to worship God. For draw-
ing near to hear is better than offering meaningless sacri-
fices like fools. For they do not know, they are thought-
less in their worship, so that they do evil in it (v. i). Be
not in haste with thy mouth in worship, and let not thy
heart be hasty to utter a saying before God ; for God is
in heaven, and thou upon earth ; therefore let thy words
be few (v. 2). For, as the popular saying goes, when a
man has a multitude of affairs, there comes a dream, and
when there are a multitude of words, there is a fool (v. 3).

1/4 HINTS AND HELPS.

When thou vowest a vow to God do not delay in per-
forming it : for there is no delight to God in those foolish
persons who are quick to vow but slow to perform. That
which thou vowest, keep (v. 4). It is good not to vow
rather than to vow and not keep (v. 5). Suffer not thy
mouth to cause thyself to sin by such trivial vows, and
say not before the messenger of God, the priest, when
thou comest with an offering to get release from thy vow,
that it was a mistake. Why shouldest thou act thus
thoughtlessly so that God should be angry at thy peti-
tioning voice and destroy the work of thy hands? (v. 6).
For in many dreams there are vanities ; and also in many
words. But fear thou God (v. 7).'^ A free translation of
this sort may perhaps answer to deal with the many diffi-
culties of the passage in the smallest space.

(a) The proper manner of worship is here suggested
to us. It must be with a full intention of the heart and
not merely with the outward symbols. The danger of
ritualism is here noted : that the ceremonial will be elab-
orate while the meaning is naught. Ceremonial had its
place in the infancy of religion. It was given by God to
his people when they were intellectually unable to worship
without external suggestions and mementos. But the
same God who gave it, in his providence at last withdrew
it, when his people had passed from their religious infancy
and were able to think of spiritual things without difficulty.
And now that it is gone is the danger that always went
with it gone too ? Surely not. Our reading the Bible,
going to church, prayers, religious talks, may be as empty
as those old ceremonies might have been empty. Always
in worship, even when it is most freed of external props,
there is the opportunity for a lack of right intention, and
therefore a lack of meaning to God as well as to men.

REVERENCE AND FIDELITY. 1/5

Even a heathen could see as much in relation to his wor-
ship as Plumptre reminds us was true of Lucretius :

" True Worship is not found in veiled heads
Turned to a statue, nor 'in drawing near
To many an altar, nor in form laid low
Upon the ground, nor sprinkling it with blood
Of bulls and goats, nor piling vows on vows."

Worship must always be interpreted by the condition
of heart of the worshipper. If this had been remembered
the fearful abuses of the fox-hunting parsons of England
in the last century would not have been possible.

Thought is necessary to due worship (v. i). Fools
fancy that the offering of sacrifices is all that is necessary,
but they weary God with them, because they have no mean-
ing to themselves. To draw near to hear is far better than
such perfunctory service. We sometimes feel that there
must be some virtue in our having used the exertion
necessary to betake ourselves to church. We congratu-
late ourselves that we have fulfilled a pious duty. But
what if our thoughts have wandered into trivial subjects ;
what if we have failed to catch the ijieaning of hymn,
prayer, and sermon ; what if while God was waiting for us
to offer him some high feeling of adoration, we have de-
prived him of that which he had a right to expect from us
in such a place ? It would be a good thing for every one
of us if we would ask ourselves as we pass through the
portals of God's house, " Do I really mean to worship
God this hour?" If we cannot say yes, would it not be
better for us not to enter ?

Deliberateness is necessary to acceptable worship
(v. 2). There is no need of hurrying with God. If we
absolutely cannot collect ourselves in the time we have, to
give him quiet and meaningful thoughts, he will wait. But

176 HINTS AND HELPS.

we must not keep him waiting for ever for that which is
his due from us. We must put away the things of the
world and make time, at any expense, for satisfactory
worship of God. Labor is a kind of worship doubtless,
but God asks more, and every man can give more if he
will. To be rash with our mouth, to rattle off a formula,
however well constructed, without weighing the meaning,
this is not to please God. Suppose a man taking time to
think over his own life and his relation to God. Let us
say at the end of an hour the desire to call upon God rises
in his heart. He bows before God and tells him just the
truth about himself and asks God for just what he feels
he needs for himself, calmly, deliberately; would not
such a prayer please God more than a voluble utterance
that occupied the whole hour at the expense of delibera-
tion? Surely one second of the thoughtful, deliberate
prayer would mean more than the whole hour of brainless
volubility.

Brevity is a virtue in worshipful utterance. God is
high above us ; we are here in a position that should
make us most deeply respectful towards him. We should
use well-weighed words before him, and well-weighed
words are few. The Scotchman who prayed for an hour
without cessation was making reasons for praying, not
finding them. The touching prayers of the Bible — the
publican's, Christ's on the cross, Saul's at his conversion —
were brief '^ Dangerous it were for the feeble brain of
man to wade far into the doings of the Most High ; whom
although to know be life, and joy to make mention of his
name, yet our soundest knowledge is to know that we
know him not as indeed he is, neither can know him ; and
our safest eloquence concerning him is our silence, when
we confess without confession that his glory is inexplicable,

REVERENCE AND FIDELITY. 177

his greatness above our capacity and reach. He is above,
and we upon earth ; therefore it behooveth our words to be
wary and few." (Hooker.)

(b) Vows formed a considerable element in the old
Jewish worship and are more or less recognized in the
New Testament. If they were to be used at all, certainly
they ought to be used with the same fulness of intention
and meaning that one should give to any kind of worship.
The making of vows was not obligatory. They were en-
tirely free-will offerings to God. So much the less value
had they if they were not respected to the utmost by him
who made them. The parallel to us is found (aside from
special promises made to God to be fulfilled in case of
recovery from sickness, etc.) in our obligations as mem-
bers of the church. We promise to do certain things : to
be faithful to Christ and his church, to love our fellow-
Christians, to obey those who are over us in Christ, etc.
These are vows, pledges given to God, and they should
be kept as scrupulously as we would keep a business
obligation signed with our own hand.

When such vows are made they musf be kept (v. 4,
5). Not to keep them is to add one more to our unful-
filled obligations Godward, and that in a peculiarly fla-
grant way, because we were not compelled to make the
vow, but made it only out of gratitude to God. To
promise a gift and then to withhold it is certainly an
aggravated form of personal offence. If one feels for any
reason regret that he has made promises to God, he
should not withdraw from them, but try to reproduce that
high feehng which induced him to make them, and this
will prompt him to fulfilment.

Excuses alleged as reasons why we may abandon
vows are not valid. It might be '' the case of one who
12

178 HINTS AND HELPS.

desired to be freed entirely from his rash vow, or of one
willing- to offer up some lesser sacrifice in lieu of a larger,
promised in a moment of rashness." But such an attempt
to escape from obHgations could not be countenanced by
the minister of God (v. 6). Better is it surely not to take
obligations upon ourselves than to take them and not
keep them. But if one finds that he has taken them,
what then ? Ask God to make them full of meaning to
'you and to help you to keep them with a glad heart.

II. A difficult passage concerning State-craft follows.
The State may be mismanaged, but it is wisest to make
the best of it. ^' If thou seest oppression of the poor and
violation of justice and righteousness in the government
of a province, be not astonished at the matter. Such per-
version of state-craft is not confined to the petty officials
whose deeds you know. Clear up to the top of the Gov-
ernment it is apt to be the same. For there is a high
one over a high one watching, and higher persons over
them, and all are pretty much alike (v. 8). But the ad-
vantage of a land in every way is a king devoted to the
field " (v. 9). The idea here is that the old simple agri-
cultural form of government was the best for the people
of that day. The general meaning is that good gov-
ernment comes from having rulers who are not rapa-
cious for their own aggrandizement, but have the inter-
ests of the country at heart. The passage is full of sug-
gestions.

We see that the danger of office is everywhere the
same. Power is full of peril for any man. The old sa-
traps wrung treasure out of their subjects with torture.
The bosses of to-day get rich on taxes and jobs. Human
nature persists in its weaknesses through the ages.

But there are rulers who have the interest of the

REVERENCE AND FIDELITY. 179

country at heart and who rule not for their own profit
but unselfishly. The world is not wholly bad.

But even if it be very bad indeed at times, one must
not be surprised or disheartened. Fleeing from the world
is cowardice. The best way is to stay in it and do what
we can for its blessing. It may not be in our day, but in
some day the good shall certainly triumph.

III. The matter of riches, which requires such spe-
cial thought to-day, when riches come easily and to many,
was not without its importance in the olden time.

Wealth then as now was unsatisfying (v. 10). It
held out promises which it had no power to fulfil. It
said to men, " Be rich and you will be happy." They
became rich, but they were not happy. If there is one
teaching in Ecclesiastes more prominent than another it
is this — that wealth cannot quiet the cravings of the soul,
that is, neither wealth nor the things that wealth can buy.
And it is easy to see why this must be. The soul is
made to crave the most ethereal kind of food ; but the rich
man tries to satisfy it with coarse things. It is made to
hunger for the things of heaven ; he thrusts upon it the
things of earth. The food he presses upon it is not rela-
ted to its appropriating organs. It is as though one should
try to feed meat to a humming-bird.

Here also is emphasized the thought that the increase
of wealth is not satisfying (v. 11). Our finely discrimina-
ting thought to-day makes a distinction between the
pleasure of the getting of wealth and the pleasure of hav-
ing it. The former is said to be the higher. But this
getting of wealth for the mere beholding of it is not con-
sidered as a pleasure for a moment by the wise author of
Ecclesiastes. Exercise for exercise's sake is never as
healthful as exercise for some worthy purpose. The dis -

l8o HINTS AND HELPS.

satisfied money-getter is well portrayed in a famous pas-
sage of Horace :

*^ Sleepless thou gazest on thy heaped-up bags,
And yet art forced to hold thy hand from them,
As though they were too sacred to be touched
Or were but painted pictures for thine eyes."

PLUMPTRE.

And then comes the old lesson, which many a rich
man has confessed to be true, but which those who are
not rich find it very hard to believe true, that labor with
contentment is better than wealthy idleness (v. 12). Many
a successful miUionaire has confessed that his happiest
hours were in the beginning of his career, when he felt
that he must work hard for his wife and babies, and when
he returned home at night with a sweet sense of contented
fatigue that never comes now in his anxious days of great
prosperity.

** And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds,
His cold thin drink out of his leathern bottle,
His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade,
All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
Is far beyond a prince's delicates.
His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
His body couched in a curious bed,
When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him,"

THE CREATOR REMEMBERED. i8l

THE CREATOR REMEMBERED.

ECCLES. 12:1-7, 13, 14.

The book of Ecclesiastes sets before us the struggle
of a heart, seeking after truth, to satisfy itself. Many ex-
pedients are tried, experiments of many sorts are under-
taken, but at last the end is reached which might have
been foreseen from the beginning : that the only satisfac-
tory life for man is that which is in obedience to God,
To us this may seem a very simple matter, not needing
much demonstration. But if we will follow '' the preacher "
through his wanderings of heart as they are powerfully
set forth in this book, the conclusion will be as uplifting
as the view from the mountain top which rewards one for
his hours of climbing. The outlook from Mt. Washing-
ton means more to those who reach it by the Bridle Path
than to those who attain it by the easy route of "Jacob's
Ladder/^ The outlook at the close of Ecclesiastes is in-
spiring, but to feel its full inspiration one needs to have
followed the vagaries of thought set forth in the book.

At the close of the preceding chapter three thoughts
have been set forth : ist, life will soon end ; 2nd, get out
of it what you can ; 3d, remember God.

In the passage before us this third thought is taken
up and pressed home on the heart of youth. There goes
with it an elaborate and beautifully poetic description of
that old age which tells of life's approaching end, and
which warns us that we must be about what we want to
do.

But how shall we understand the description of age?
Is it an allegory describing the weakening of the body ?

N

l82 HINTS AND HELPS.

Is it a description of the Jews in captivity ? Is it a dirge
from some old book of hymns ? The meanings given to
it are innumerable, some of them most absurd. Dean
Bradley speaks of some of them as " the long-drawn ana-
tomical explanations of men who would replace with a
dissector's report, a painter's touch, a poet's melody." As
for instance when the Talmud explains the "watchers"
to be the ribs, etc. Rising up at the voice of the bird, is
thought by some to mean early rising. Others make the
days of youth to be the time of Israel's prosperity as a
nation, and the evil days to be the time of exile. Many
commentators have understood the blossoming of the al-
mond tree to refer to the whitening hair of age.

The best explanation seems this : first, the preacher
describes old age as a stormy day ; secondly, the figure
changes to that of a palace going to ruin ; then there is a
reference to " the seven evil days " of spring in the Orient,
which are thought particularly dangerous to the aged;
and lastly the new figures of the lamp, the fountain, and
the cistern come in. It is surely no strange thing to illus-
trate an idea with a variety of pictures.

" Remember your great Creator in the flower of
your life, before the days of evil, the days of age, come
(that tell that the opportunity to remember him will soon
be past), and years approach of which you will say, ' Not
to me is in them pleasure :' before (the day of storms
comes, when) the sun is darkened, and the light, and the
moon, and the stars ; and the clouds keep returning after
the pouring rain." Age is here likened to a tempestuous
day, when, no sooner is one shower past, than the clouds
gather for another. The figure now changes ; the body
is pictured as a noble palace slowly turning into a ruin.
The guards grow weak with age. In the great kitchens

THE CREATOR REMEMBERED. 183

where the women used to mal^e a loud noise grinding
grain with the hand-mills common in the East, now only
one or two old servants feebly work. In the halls where
once choruses of girls chanted songs and moved in circ-
ling dances, there is now silence. All this is a strik-
ing illustration of the gradual loss of natural power as
life grows old. '' In the day when the keepers of the
house (the hands and arms) tremble; and the men of
strength (the legs) bow themselves ; and the grinding-
maids (the teeth) cease because they are few ; and the
ladies who look out through the lattices (the eyes) are
darkened ; and the doors (the ears) are shut towards the
street, so that the sound of the grinding of the women is
low. When the voice rises to be like the sparrow's (so
weak and shrill is it) and all the daughters of song (the
words) are brought low. Also the aged fear on account
of that which is high (it is hard for them to step up to it) ;
and all sorts of terrors are in the way (so that they are
afraid to go out).'^

The fears of the aged are increased during what the
Orientals call the seven evil days, at the breaking up of
their winter, from about February 25 to March 3. The
spring is just beginning. The almond trees are putting
forth their blossoms and the locusts are crawling out
half-benumbed. The weather is uncertain and stormy,
and there is especial danger to the feeble in health.
" Then the almond tree blossoms and the locust crawls
forth and drags itself along. Then the poor soul of man
fails ; for man is going to his eternal home in the here-
after, and the mourners go about in the street.'* Here
the picture of the close of man's life is complete, with the
mention of the lament over his death. But once more it
is taken up in a new group of figures. Remember your

1 84 HINTS AND HELPS.

great Creator ''before the silver cord be snapped asunder,
and the golden bowl be broken." Life is likened here
most beautifully to a swinging lamp, whose gilded bowl
is hung from the top of a tent by a silver cord. The
writer next thinks of it as a pitcher carried by some one
to the spring for water; and again as a wheel used to
draw water from the cistern. Before *' the pitcher is
shattered beside the spring, and the wheel breaks and
falls into the cistern, and before the dust returns unto
the earth, as it was, and the spirit returns unto God who
gave it. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity."

What follows has been called the epilogue which
contains a justification and summing up of the book.
The conclusion of all the preacher's wanderings in search
of the right way to live is plainly stated: ''The end of
the matter is, all that can be said having been heard :
fear God and keep his commandments, for this is for
every man (it is the universal law of human Hfe." But
why should we care to know it?) "Because God shall
bring every work into judgment, together with every hid-
den thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil."

We may make a regular progression of the lessons
taught in this exquisitely beautiful passage.

I. There is a hereafter. Man is not made only for
this life. What would we think of the pyramid builders
if they scattered pyramids over a plain, but intentionally
left every one of them unfinished, with the lines sloping
together so as to prophesy of an apex which was never
built? Such designed incompleteness is inconceivable,
the human mind being what it is. No more can we con-
ceive of God's having scattered over the world all the
beautiful and noble Hves in history, yet so that none of
them should be complete. There must be a finishing

THE CREATOR REMEMBERED. 185

sometime. The converging lines of character prophesy
of a consummation sometime. It is not now, for death
cuts the building short ; it must be hereafter. We do not
find in Ecclesiastes reasoning to prove that there is a
hereafter ; that is left for this sophisticated age of doubt.
When man thinks naturally, the thought of a world to
come rises spontaneously in his heart. We are made so
as to expect it. We have an organ whose function it is
to anticipate it. And that organ of the heart would be as
inexplicable without a hereafter as an eye without light.
Where we find eyes we can presume the existence of
light at sometime.

2. Man is a responsible being. He can do pretty
much as he pleases, but he cannot by any possibility ex-
empt himself from the consequences of what he does.
He may feel no very great results from his wrong-doing
in this life, but '^ after death the judgment." Sometime
the score must be settled. When the wicked flourish,
those who are weak are tempted to think that there is
something wrong in the constitution of the universe. But
call no man prosperous until his account is settled with
God. There may be some things to be paid then, to-
wards which his earthly prosperity would not be as a
penny in the dollar. The feeling of " oughtness " arises
in every human soul. The ought means obligation, and
obligation implies a person to whom it is owed, one who
can and will reward according to one's recognition of the
ought. Conscience inevitably points to God, and with
God left out it is inexpHcable and meaningless. There-
fore we are without excuse if we do wrong and hope not
to have to settle for it. '' Whatsoever a man soweth that
shall he also reap.'' That s/ia// is built upon the impreg-
nable foundation of the eternal being of God.

1 56 HINTS AND HELPS.

3. Death ends man's work on earth. The approach
of death is most beautifully described in the passage
before us, but that does not conceal for a moment that
it is death, and the end of labor. "Whatsoever a man
intends doing he should be about quickly, is the lesson.
It is interesting to note that the terrors of death are not
dwelt upon in the passage. The sombreness, the pain of
it, are passed by. If the writer were uninspired, we should
call this a fine mark of literary restraint. Writers often
gloat over death, they force the melancholy of it home
upon our hearts, they seem to say (as Dickens is accused
of saying in effect in describing the death of Httle Nell)
*' Now let us have a cry together." There is not the
slightest touch of this in the ending of Ecclesiastes. It
seems to me as though the writer said to us with refined
dignity, '^ Let us draw the sheet over the dying man's
face ; let us not abuse feeling by purposely dwelling on
what is harrowing, when it is to no good end ; but let us
not forget that the man is dead and his life-work is over."
If we have any plans for good, if we want to make this
life a preparation for the glories of the future, how busy
ought the thought, and the sight, of death to make us.

4. Reverent obedience to God is the only method of
having a life that shall be worth living. Inasmuch as we
have not constituted the laws of destiny, and inasmuch as
we cannot change them or prevent their application to
ourselves, the only course that is not entirely irrational is
to accept them, and conform ourselves to them so as to
secure blessing and not harm. God changes not and we
need not hope to change him. He is a God of love
always, but his love brings blessing only to those who
seek to do his will. To those who disregard him that
same love becomes a condemnation.

THE CREATOR REMEMBERED. 187

But how shall we keep God's laws ? Above all com-
mands, he has given to us our final command, by keeping
which we are led to keep all the rest ; " this is my beloved
Son ; hear ye him." It is folly to try to keep God's com-
mands while neglecting this last and greatest of them all,
which indeed is intended to be the means of keeping all
the rest. From the time Christ came into the world, the
Christian life was the only acceptable life of obedience to
God. Thenceforth obedience and Christian faith were the
same. Therefore trying to serve God while rejecting
Christ must lead to failure in God's eyes.

5. Youth is the best time to begin serving God. This
is the impressive meaning of the elaborate practical
description of old age and death in our passage. The
length to which this is drawn must not hold our attention
so closely upon the details that we shall miss the meaning
of the whole. And what is that meaning ? That youth
is the time to begin the service of God. For several plain
reasons.

(a) It is easier to begin then. Habits are unformed,
and will as easily take one shape as another. Once they
are made, rearrangement comes only as it were by frac-
ture. Young people are led into the church more easily
than old people. Should the church abandon that advan-
tage to Satan ? He does not hesitate to take advantage
of youthful susceptibihty, though he sometimes, with a
subhme inconsistency possible only to the prince of evil,
suggests to some doubting minds in the church that it is
wrong for Christ to take the same advantage. The church,
standing as God's earthly fold, has properly had a place
in it always for the young, both in the old economy and
the new. But some one says, may not young Christians
fail to understand all there is to Christianity ? There are

1 88 HINTS AND HELPS.

several elements in the reply : a child-Christian is a Chris-
tian in as legitimate a way as an adult Christian, for it is
not a question of quality but of age only ; the danger is
not in child-Christianity for children, but in child-Chris-
tianity for men ; the workers in the church in great ma-
jority came from those who became Christ's early in life.
By their fruits shall ye know them.

(b) It is important to have the trend of life settled in
favor of the good. You cannot do this except at the
needless expense of great moral upheaval, at any time but
in the early years.

(c) The more years of life consecrated to Christ, the
more the quantity of good which can be done for him.
Every year away from his service is an empty year from
the point of view of eternity. The product of life is not
wholly a matter of quantity, but it is somewhat so.

(d) The earlier one begins in the Christian life the
longer time he has for Christian growth. As life closes
we begin to wish that we had more time to develop.
Heaven needs so much better preparation than we in our
haste can make for it. The better way is to remember
our Creator in the days of our youth.

PAUL CALLED TO EUROPE. 1 89

PAUL CALLED TO EUROPE.

Acts 16:6-15.

A ROUGH sea looks rougher when one looks down
upon it than when he looks across it. The point of view
makes a difference in many things. To Paul the passage
from Troas to Neapolis was not different from the passage
from Seleucia to Cyprus. Both were journeys in the in-
terest of the gospel. But to us the NeapoHtan voyage
marks the beginning of the territorial evangelization of
the civilized world. Greeks and Romans had doubtless
been converted before this, but in their alien homes in
Asia. Or if the Church of Rome had been started be-
fore this time, it was by the return of Romans who had
been found out by the gospel while visiting on foreign
soil. But when Paul crossed the ^gean there began a
pointed and purposeful attempt to win a new continent for
Christ. And the winning of that continent meant a Chris-
tianized Greece, a Christianized Rome, a Christianized
Germany, France, England, and America. Dull Asia had
heard the gospel. Now it was brought to that Europe
which has furnished to the world its civilized energy.
Probably in Paul's mind the European passage was but
one of many journeys. But to the eye of history, seeing
before and after, it was the challenge of Christianity to
civilization, to intellect, to world-controlling energy, to
come and be ruled by Christ.

Before this journey, however, there went
I. The time of waiting. Proconsular Asia and Bithy-
nia were before Paul and his companions ; they were with-
out the gospel; they needed it; Paul was ready to give

igO HINTS AND HELPS.

it. And yet the gospel was not preached. It was not
a time to labor, but a time to wait.

1. Yet it was a time of endeavor to labor. Paul did
not choose the waiting for himself. He honestly and ear-
nestly tried to preach the gospel. The same obligation
pressed upon him that made him always say to himself,
'' Woe is me if I preach not the gospel." He strenuously
tried to satisfy that obligation without demission. He
went to the frontier of the province of Asia Minor intend-
ing to enter and preach. Prevented there, he tried Bithy-
nia next. The presupposition of Paul's life was this gos-
pelizing obligation. His conversion was interpreted by
it ; his experience of Christ's grace always seemed to bear
specially upon it. Preaching was the one word that
summed up all Paul's life. And he did preach every-
where and always so far as he was able. Every Christian
is called to work. His mission in life is to proclaim Jesus
Christ. How hard and how constantly do we try to fulfil
it?

2. Paul's endeavor to do his work was thwarted. He
wanted to labor for Christ, and he was prevented from
doing so. We think sometimes of Paul's life (when we
recall how very much was accomplished in it) as a sort of
triumphal progress. But it was not so. He knew many
a failure. He went into many a place only to be driven
out with stones. He planned great journeys and found
himself in prison. It would be a very instructive thing to
look over the Scriptural records of Paul's Hfe and tabu-
late the thwarted plans recorded. No man makes every
Christian endeavor he undertakes a success. As God
makes the flower cast many a seed to the ground that one
or two plants may spring up, so he gives it as a law of
spiritual accomplishment that there shall sometimes be

PAUL CALLED TO EUROPE. 191

many failures to one success. And Paul, like a wise man,
did not quarrel with law.

3. The strange part of Paul's experience at this point
was that the thwarting of his purpose to preach the gospel
in proconsular Asia and Bithynia was directly due to God.
Some of Paul's failures were due to the interference of
Satan (see i Thess. 2 : 18), who we may beheve goes about
endeavoring to hinder God's people in God's work. But
this time God himself withheld Paul from the accomplish-
ment of his life-work. It is strange that the very God
who devised the gospel, who wanted it offered to all men,
and who had called and commanded Paul to spend his
life in making that offer, should seem to be preventing
the accomplishment of his own plan. What are we to
think of this ? (a) God was leading Paul away from the
conversion of Asia Minor to the conversion of Europe.
Paul, having but one human life and one man's natural
power, could not do both. God set before him the larger
work. To accomplish it involved the exclusion of the
smaller. In the same way Christ preached not except to
Israel. To have crossed to other nations would have frit-
tered away the three years in an enterprise too large for
them. (b) Asia Minor was undoubtedly approached
more advantageously by the gospel from the westward,
when the weight of European success added a new com-
mendation to Paul's teaching, which it lacked when it
came from the eastward. If you want to win a man to
anything it is better to await the favorable moment than
to rush in at first sight. It was better for Asia Minor and
Bithynia not to have the gospel preached to them just
yet. (c) God's thwarting of Paul's plans would have
been all right even if we could see no reason whatever in
it. Many a time we have no understanding of the ways

192 HINTS AND HELPS.

of our Father. We cannot explain all. His paths are
secret. '' And so there is nothing better than to yield
full power to God, that his grace may show honor to, or
withhold from men, according as it seems good " (Cal-
vin). Therefore when God frustrates the Christian's work
for good, he need not feel that he is driven to suppose
that the universe is somehow out of gear.

4. The Holy Spirit was present with Paul, directing
and equipping him, quite as well in the time of waiting as
in the time of work.

n. T/ie calL Paul had found his intentions foiled ;
Asia Minor and Bithynia were closed to him ; Europe re-
mained. Should he seek those shores ? He needed direc-
tion, and it was given. The vision of the Macedonian,
perhaps authenticated as from God in some way unknown
to us, showed Paul where his labor lay.

1. The vision was that of a pleading man. He stood
and besought Paul to come over to Macedonia with help.
Doubtless behind Paul were beseeching Asia Minor and
Bithynia. Macedonia was not alone in this attitude. For
that matter, all the world was in crying need of the gos-
pel. The vision did not mean that Macedonia was more
in need, but that it was open. Paul did not discriminate
in his desire to help men. Macedonia was no more to
him than any other country; it was no less. All the world
needed Christ, and Paul was debtor to both Greek and
Jew. The gospel is for the world, and the whole world.

2. The figure in the vision voiced the need of help ;
it did not define just what was needed. The call that
rises from the human race is a cry for help, whatever the
help be. It is not always a cry for the gospel ; for many
times when the gospel is offered it is blindly refused.
But just the same, if men only knew it, the gospel is the

PAUL CALLED TO EUROPE. I93

only possible answer to their self-confessed sense of unde-
scribed need. The picture of the pleading nations crying
to us for the gospel is true as expressive of their need,
but it is not always true as expressive of their desire.
The world is hardened, dead in sin, and sometimes does
not believe it. It is the function of the gospel sometimes
to create desire as well as to satisfy it. When Paul land-
ed in Macedonia he found no crowd standing with out-
stretched hands to welcome him. No, he '' tarried cer-
tain days " before there was any sign of the gospel being
wanted, and then the sign came only .to Paul's search
for it.

3. The Macedonian was a representative. He said,
not " come over and help me,'* but '' come over and help
us." All needed Christ, and not only the few souls who
were already near to the kingdom — like L.ydia, the first
convert.

4. The request that was made by the pleading man of
the vision was in Paul's power to grant. He could go
over and help them if he wanted to. So can we help the
nations who seem to stand before us in vision beseeching
us to help them. We may have no warmer welcome with
them than Paul had in indifferent Macedonia, and yet
their need is just as crying They may seem to need
archangels rather than men to summon them out of their
spiritual sleep, yet we have the same message to carry
that Paul carried, the same power of speech he had, and
with us is the same Spirit to give blessing. We are able
to answer the nations' need if we want to.

III. Tke answer,

I. Paul was led to make an answer by using the mind
God had given him. He and his companions consulted
together and '' concluded that God had called them for to
13

194 HINTS AND HELPS.

preach the gospel unto them.'' The supernatural vision
seems to separate Paul's experience from ours. We are
not so led in our work. But his consulting with his
friends and reasoning out as well as he could the conclu-
sion which God wanted him to make, brings his way of
being led back into similarity with our own. And as-
suredly if we behold the real though not miraculous vision
of the pleading nations to-day, and if we seek as well as
we can to think out what we should do in view of it, we
shall be led aright (Jas. i : 5).

2. Having made up his mind that he ought to go to
Macedonia, Paul ''sought" to carry out that purpose.
That he succeeded was not his accomplishment but God's,
who ruleth the winds and the waves and directeth all
men's paths. Strictly Paul did not succeed, but tried to
succeed, which is neither more nor less than we can do in
view of God's work. Assurance of success and the ac-
complishment of success are in God's hands, but we can at
least try. If God is willing to bless, and we are able at
least to try, if Christian work sometimes does not greatly
prosper, what is the reason ?

3. Paul's answer to the meaning of the vision was
immediate. " Straightway we sought to go." The reac-
tion of Paul's converted soul in the presence of spiritual
need was instant. We might almost say it was automatic,
did we not know that his own will had much to do with
it, as we learn by contrasting him with other men. We
speak of men sometimes as being persons whose hearts
respond easily to the appeals of others. But they respond
because they want to respond. No man is virtuous in any
direction because he cannot help it. Or to put it a better
way, even the divine constraint in the converted soul is
successful only because of the consent of the will, which

PAUL CALLED TO EUROPE. I95

by renewal is made one with God's» Paul, then, was not
unlike us. If he responded instantly to the call of need
we can respond so too, if we will,

4. The call's being from God was what made Paul's
reply so quick. Like Christ, his Master, he. referred all
things to his Father's will, and once that became evident,
the matter was settled. Obedience was a primal element
in Paul's religious life, and so he is seen to be truly of the
company of Him who was '^ an obedient Son."

IV. The result.

1. It was not visible at once. Over in Troas there
was the exciting vision of the pleading Macedonian. But
in Macedonia there was nothing but indifference. Paul
and his friends came to the city unheralded and unno-
ticed. They tarried several days with nothing done.
Where was the spiritual interest, where were the earnest
seekers after truth Paul might perhaps not unjustly have
thought himself entitled to expect ? He was received, as
the missionary of the cross is almost always received, with
perfect indifference.

2. Paul used means to bring a result about. He did
not sit down with folded hands, saying to himself, '' Mace-
don has cried to me for help ; I have come a long way at
great trouble in order to give help : now if the Macedo°
nians want me let them speak out." Paul assumed that
the Macedonians needed everything and. acted as though
they desired nothing. He waited not for them to seek
him, he sought them. And here he followed his usual
method of procedure. He sought the Jews out first He
waited until the Sabbath, and then went to the river-bank
where the Jews had an open-air place of prayer. There
he talked with a few women who came out to worship.
This surely did not look like a very vigorous attack on

196 HINTS AND HELPS.

intrenched heathenism. But Paul was a strategist. As
a result finally of his plan at PhiHppi came forth what in
many ways was Paul's most successful church. It would
never have been known if Paul, conscious of God's bless-
ing, had not worked for it. Work is a spiritual as well
as a natural condition of success.

3. A small beginning was made. Paul was not dis-
heartened at its smallness, but content with its being a
beginning. No heathen were allured to the gospel at all.
No men were reached. One woman, and she half con-
verted already before Paul's appearance, was the harvest
of Paul's effort. What an insignificant result after the
double injunction in Asia, the vision, the long journey,
the high expectations of spiritual conquest ! One lone
woman! And yet there stands in history the glorious
church of Philippi, most blessed of all the works of God
and Paul. Let no man despise the day of small things.
The beginning is not yet the end, but it surely has the
end hidden in it, in however small circumference.

4. Fellowship was established. Lydia brought her
household into the faith and took Paul and his friends
into the sweet communion of this new Christian home.
When that Christian fellowship was formed the success of
Paul's Philippian mission was assured. A group of real
Christian friends can leaven a city.

V. Lessons concerning missionary work.

I. The relation of God and man in gospelizing.

God calls ; man's imperative and immediate duty is
to obey. We are allowed deliberation as to what the will
of God is, but not as to what we will do about it when we
know it.

God sends the Holy Spirit to direct and empower in
Christian work. Nevertheless it is man's duty to work to

PAUL CALLED TO EUROPE. I97

his Utmost for the accomplishment of God's plan. " For
it is God that worketh in you.''

God sends us to try all plans in the world with his
gospel. He only knows where we shall succeed in plant-
ing it.

2. The laws of gospelizing. Persuading for Christ is
like other persuading. Paul did not preach when he
made his first European convert. What a spectacle he
would have made if he had proceeded to deliver a thun-
derous oration like that on Mars' Hill to these half dozen
women ! He sat down and talked with them.

The gospel begins its work in small ways. There
were only a handful of apostles. Europe's conquest for
Christ is heralded in the saving of one woman.

The gospel uses the God-made relations of human
life for its propagation. Lydia brought her household to
Christ. The family is recognized and utiHzed by the
gospel. Marriage, friendship, even casual acquaintance,
have thus in them the potency of spiritual blessing.

198 HINTS AND HELPS.

PAUL AT PHILIPPI.

Acts 16 : 19-34.

The opening of Paul's European tour did not prom-
ise well. There was no one to meet him with open arms,
like the man of Macedonia in the vision. There was no
apparent yearning for the gospel. When Paul went to
seek out those who were religiously incHned he found
only women. One of these was converted — but she had
already been a seeker after God. If Paul's mission had
been only to the pious Jews scattered here and there over
the Roman empire the conversion of Europe would have
seemed almost hopeless. Was he to have no conversions
among that great mass of the people who were not ready
for the gospel and were indifferent to all religious life ?
The conversion of good Jews bore about the same rela-
tion to the conversion of the Roman people as the Chris-
tianization of the Chinese in the United States would bear
to the Christianization of that nation. Paul's mission
(humanly speaking) would have been a failure if he had
not had Roman converts direct from heathenism. Was
he to have any such ? The Philippian jailer gives the
reply. He was as unpromising a candidate for Christian-
ization as could have been found. He was predisposed
against Christianity by his being an official, which gave
him at least an external connection with the state religion ;
and if he was like most jailers, who have to meet every
day sights that harden the sensibilities, he was not very
susceptible to spiritual influences. Lydia's conversion
was a pledge that at least among good Jews Paul would
have some converts ; the conversion of the jailer was a

PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 199

promise that among Romans, even of the most inaccessi-
ble sort spiritually, there was to be a harvest of souls.

I. The preparatio7i for God's spiritual work. The
rebuke of the evil spirit in the girl, the anger of the crowd,
the imprisonment, seemed to form a series of events com-
plete in itself and existing for itself, if we may say so.
But these things were but the preparation for something
more important.

1. The preparation for God's work was by affliction.
The disciples found themselves cast down, but the sequel
showed it was in order that they might be exalted, by
being used as a means of glorifying God. Many a sick
bed offers opportunity of heavenly service far beyond the
time of health that preceded it. A man's best work
comes sometimes after he has ceased to be able to work
at all. We may believe that the apostle John when he
was striving for the success of the Word Hke a son of
thunder, could not have been so influential for good as in
the last feeble days when he could only go about mur-
muring '' Little children, love one another." Ecclesia
pressa is always introductory to ecclesia triumphans, God
works through our afflictions even when we do not know
it. Well may we then count it joy when we are honored
by falling upon them.

2. The affliction of the apostles was certain, sooner or
later, because of the ever persisting antagonism between
the gospel and the world. It was only a matter of time
when hostility must arise towards Christianity from the
Roman Government. The Roman Emperor was not only
head of the Roman religion, he was one of the Roman
gods. To refuse to offer incense to the image of the em-
peror was therefore treason to the state. But among con-
quered nations the Romans wisely refrained from pressing

200 HINTS AND HELPS.

the point of religion. So there were certain religiones lici-
tcLe whose worship was permitted by Roman law. But
the adherents of these religions must not try to make
proselytes of Romans. The Jewish religion was thus
authorized by the state. Christianity might escape perse-
cution along two lines : first, by seeming to be more or
less the same as Judaism ; second, by not making Roman
proselytes. The Romans failed generally to distinguish
between Christianity and Judaism until about the end of
the first Christian century. But the Christians got into
trouble long before that by making proselytes among
Romans. The trouble in which Paul and Silas found
themselves was not of this sort, but it arose from the heal-
ing of the girl possessed of an evil spirit, i. e., it arose
from the prosecution of gospel work. But the relation of
Christianity to the Roman State was such that if Paul
succeeded in his European journey he must find antag-
onism at every step. And is it not for ever so to the end
of time? Must not the gospel always find opposition
from the world ? Surely this vile world is not a friend to
grace to help us on to God.

3. Paul's understanding of this made him careless of
being unpopular. He was certainly the kind of man who
loved association with others. But when he set out to
work for the gospel he never flinched for a moment be-
cause the multitude were against him. He had counted
the cost of his service and was perfectly willing to pay it.

4. The affliction of the apostles was relieved by faith.
They trusted God to give them strength to endure it, to
lead them out of it into safety, and beyond these, to use
the affliction itself as an instrument of his own purposes.
What a blessing it is to God's servants everywhere to feel
that their sufferings are not wasted, but that God permits

PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 20I

them to come to them with full cognizance, that they all
have a place in his plans, and that in every one he has the
intention of making out some good. Christian faith alone
can turn trouble into blessing, and can put a song of
rejoicing on the lips in the prison-midnight *^ However
sharp the anguish of the lash might have been, however
ponderous the prison, however great the peril, since Paul
and Silas ceased not to praise God, hence we discover
how constantly they had been inspired to bear the cross."
(^Calvin). In a very real sense it is inspiration — the pres-
ence in the heart of the Holy Spirit, which gives to God's
own people joy for sorrow.

5. God is with his children in their times of trial.
The prisoners listened to Paul and Silas hymning the
strange joy of their hearts, but there was an unmentioned
and unseen auditor besides, even God himself; and if
there was joy in the hearts of the apostles, it was only a
reflection of the joy their Heavenly Father bad in them.

6. Such faith makes one thoughtful for others. It is
not so mystic (in the bad sense) that the believer forgets
the things of earth. It is practical and makes the heart
sensitive to others' needs. Paul was not so absorbed in
his own rapture as to forget the jailer. The jailer was no
friend of his, yet when he would have killed himself Paul
cried with a loud voice saying, '' Do thyself no harm ; for
we are all here." Forgetfulness of others is no part of the
soul's Jeepest joy. If, as a great German tragedian sug-
gested, God's joy in himself consists in the knowledge of
his own infinite love, the joy of communion with God must
have as one element in it the consciousness of a god-hke
love of our fellow-men. As you rise nearer to the life-
giving sun, you can see more of the earth which it blesses
with its shining.

202 HINTS AND HELPS.

7. In Paul's joy in God there was involved forgive-
ness to those who injured him. His solicitude for the
jailer lest he should take his own life shows that he bore
him no resentment. His peace in God gave him a mag-
nanimity which was above grudge-bearing. The Chris-
tian life is large and high, far removed, when God's true
joy is in it, from the pettinesses of life. Its eye is on the
sun. It sees the earth too, but its chief thought, like the
eagle's, is above.

II. The Work of God. God by his permission of
the apostles' affliction had made ready for the first soul-
ingathering among the heathen of Europe.

1. The first element that appears in the experience of
the Philippian jailer is fear. He was trem.bling when he
sprang into the cell (v. 29). It was the anguish of the
soul when for the first time it is truly conscious of its own
guilt before God. John Bunyan had an awful experience
of his own sinfulness before he was converted. Froude
(in his little book on Bunyan) seems to think that Bun-
yan's agony was somewhat unnecessary, for all the sins we
are aware of Bunyan's having committed were frivolity,
Sunday -breaking, and profanity. But Bunyan was right.
It is not the quantity of sin but the fact of sin per se that
makes a man guilty before God, and there is no soul so
pure that out of Christ it cannot legitimately feel some-
thing of what the convicted jailer of Philippi felt. If
all have sinned, all are entitled to a guilty fearful con-
science.

2. This dread of conscience was immediately accom-
panied by a consciousness of the supernatural. The
quaking prison, the miraculously - opened doors, con-
vinced the jailer of God. He fell at the feet of the apos-
tles as the representatives of God (v. 29). What is

PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 203

the conviction of sin but the reaction of conscience in-
duced by the knowledge of self which results from a true
soul-vision of God ? If men could but know God as he
is, nothing but their own resolute hardness of heart could
keep them from repentance. Show me God and you
have shown me what I am not.

3. With fear went desire. The jailer arose from his
feet that he might bring Paul and Silas out and lay an in-
quiry before them : "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
What it was to be saved he knew in a most undefined
way. But he was conscious that he was a sinner and he
wanted to get away from his sin, and whatever salvation
was, he craved it. Wants do not have to be defined in
order to be genuine. A child knows that it feels bad but
cannot always tell where or why, yet its suffering is most
real. The human heart, burdened with the consciousness
of sin, knows that it is suffering, that it needs something,
though it cannot say just what. It wants salvation, what-
ever salvation is. And to that want the gospel comes
with complete satisfaction. But it does not come except
to the want.

4. The jailer was wilHng to do anything necessary for
salvation. " Sirs, what must I do?" Were there penan-
ces, he was prepared for them. Were there multitudes of
prayers and sacrifices, he was ready to devote years to
them. Were there dedications of property to divine ser-
vice, he would not flinch from self-impoverishment. He
was ready to do anything necessary. In contrast with
this old legalistic way (so current still) of looking at sal-
vation as a thing to be earned how fine is the reply of the
apostles.

5. The answer has well been called classic. It sums
up once for all the ages everything that is required of

204 HINTS AND HELPS.

man in order to be saved. So long as earth shall be
earth men will be conscious of sin, and from their con-
science-smitten hearts will be ever rising the anxious in-
quiry '' What must I do to be saved ?" and for ever and
for ever there comes from the God of all mercy the gra-
cious reply, '' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved." Glorious answer ! So simple a child
might accept it, so deep a philosopher may never find all
the blessed things it means. What must we do to be
saved? (i) Do nothing. Salvation is not of works.
The deeds of men are but a Babel tower. They do not
reach the skies. (2) Believe. Faith, the emptying out of
self, the recognition of the fact that man is made for
dependence upon Another, the actual casting of the soul
upon Him in dependence. (3) Make Christ the object of
faith. Saving faith is not believing that there was such a
man as Jesus Christ, that he spake truth, that he is the
Saviour of the world ; it is coming to Christ and saying,
" I verily accept thee as my personal Saviour, I trust in
thy death as atoning for the guilt of my sins, and I trust
in thy everlasting life as the source of my purposes and
my strength." It is personal trust in him who died and
liveth again for ever for us.

6. This faith has its social bearing. It is recognized
as an influential element in the family, which is here
shown to be the God-constituted unit of human life. To
God, men are not merely so many nations, or so many
individuals, but so many families. Faith in the home
touches all that are there. *' Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house," for they
also will believe.

The members of the family form a unit in the new
dispensation as well as in the old. Whatever adults there

PAUL AT PHILIPPI. 205

were in that Philippian home we may be sure had sympa-
thy with the change of heart of the family's head, and the
beginnings of Christian faith, for such faith warranted
baptism.

7. True faith will not be ignorant. It recognizes its
imperfection and is. ever seeking to learn more of the
truth of God, that it may appropriate it by faith. The
jailer and his family were instructed in Christian truth by
the apostles (v. 32). The deadness of some Christian
lives arises from a failure to be ever learning more of
God's truth.

8. As soon as faith had entered the jailer's heart, it
emerged again in a deed of kindness : he washed the
apostles' wounds. So by a beautiful spiritual chemistry
faith is ever transmuting the love of God as it comes into
our upward-opened hearts into love for our fellow-men.
For all love is one, but it tends to manifoldness. '^ If we
love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is per-
fected in us" (i John 4: 12).

9. Immediately there came an open recognition of
Christian faith in the form of baptism. Baptism is not
only a means of grace, it is also a testimony. It is a
''seal," a sign of an act's being done. The apostolic way
of being Christians is openly : no subterfuge, no conceal-
ment, no half-heartedness, no waiting to see if one will
hold out. Wherever there is faith there should there be
frank, manly avowal of it.

ID. No wonder the jailer when he had brought them
into his house rejoiced (v. 34). It was the happiest time
he had ever knov/n in his Hfe. We know not what his
past had been — it may have been criminal, it may have
been only morally and religiously indifferent. At any
rate it had not been what it ought to have been. God's

2o6 HINTS AND HELPS.

wrath had been abiding on it. Now there had come the
release from the guilt and the power of sin, the escape
from indifference, the knowledge of Christ and his right-
eousness, the consciousness of reconciliation with God, the
promise of service, the hope of glory, all things that the
human soul most desires. No wonder the jailer rejoiced.
Blessed beyond words are all those who come to know
Christ and his salvation.

III. Lessons about conversion.

1. Providence often prepares for it, sometimes by
suffering and sorrow.

2. There are many ways of being led to Christ, and
all are valid. Lydia came one way, the jailer another.
No one need try to force himself into another's experi-
ence.

3. Faith is the same for all. All are sinners. All
need the atoning blood. All must trust without any
merit of their own.

4. Salvation is free to all. What Paul said to the
jailer he said to the whole world. Whosoever will may
come.

PAUL AT ATHENS. 20/

PAUL AT ATHENS.

ACTS 17:22-31.

Milton characterized Athens as the **eye of Greece;
mother of arts and eloquence." No man of ordinary-
taste and culture could stand in the midst of its glories
without a feeling of aesthetic enthusiasm. Yet Paul was
moved only by an intense pity and indignation. Yonder
was the Parthenon, beautified by the skill of Phidias and
Praxiteles. Yonder the Areopagus, crowed with its co-
lossal image of Mars ; here were the famous schools of
philosophy by the IHssus. On every hand were images
of gods and heroes. Pliny says there were three thou-
sand such effigies here. It was a proverb, " There are
more gods than men in Athens/' The apostle possibly
walked down the Street of Hermes where a winged figure
adorned the front of every home, or along the Avenue of
Tripods, Hned on every side with votive offerings given
by grateful athletes to the gods who had helped them in
the games. Gods everywhere: gods on pedestals, in
niches, on the corners of the streets — gods and demigods,
good, bad, and indifferent — a wilderness of gods ! And
the heart of the apostle was moved within him ''as he
saw the city wholly given to idolatry." At length he
mounted one of the rostrums in the public square and be-
gan to speak. There was no difficulty in getting an
audience, for Athens was a paradise of gossips and saun-
terers. Its shibboleth was *' What 's the news ?" So they
gathered about him, men and women, priests and philos-

208 HINTS AND HELPS.

ophers, all sorts and conditions of people. And he spoke
to them of Jesus and the Resurrection, or as the Greeks
had it, Jesus and Anastasia — a pair of new deities. He
who introduced a god into Athens was counted a public
benefactor. The interest of his audience was thus en-
chained at once. Presently they said, '' Let us go to the
Areopagus for a better hearing." So to Areopagus they
went, and the apostle preached a famous sermon there.

THE PREACHER AND HIS PULPIT.

I. Observe the man. Renan calls him " the Httle ugly
Jew." He was stoop-shouldered, weak-eyed, and a stam-
merer, but it did not take the Athenians long to discover
that there was something in him, and the world, through
all these centuries, has regarded him as one of its famous
men. No profounder thinker or more skilful dialectician
ever lived. He said of himself, " They tell me that my
words are weighty, but my bodily presence is weak and
my speech contemptible." The man's power lay in his
conviction, and '' thereby hangs a tale." In his youth,
while attending the Rabbinical school, he gave promise
of becoming a leader in his time. He was a pupil of
Gamaliel, known as *' the flower of the law." All that
good blood and brilliant opportunities could do for him
was done. In time he became a zealot among his people,
was chosen to an honored place in the Sanhedrin, was
distinctly in the line of promotion, and great things were
expected of him. Then came the great sun-burst. On
his way down to Damascus the Voice, which ever after
he revered as his heavenly monitor, spoke to him, and
life was never again the same. Thenceforth his will, heart,
intellect, and conscience went out towards the things
which he had previously hated. The love of Christ con-
strained him. So thoroughly was his moral nature revo-

PAUL AT ATHENS. 209

lutionized that for the name of Jesus Christ, whom he had
previously reviled and persecuted, he cheerfully surren-
dered all the bright hopes of his future, all high ambitions
and aspirations — laid everything at the feet of his new
Master, saying, '' I no longer live, but Christ hveth in me.''
II. Observe the pulpit. It was a fateful place. Many
a man had here been devoted to death. On this stone
platform Demosthenes had stood and uttered forth
"breathing thoughts in burning words." Here Socrates
had made his apology and was doomed to drink the fatal
hemlock. It was an historic platform. Facing it, on a
shelf of rock, stood the Temple of the Furies, and over it
towered the Temple of Mars. To this place Paul brought
such a message as it had never heard before. He spoke
as an ambassador from the court of heaven, bringing a
message of peace to troubled souls. He stood on the
" Rock of Impudence," where criminals were wont to de-
fend their lives. It was not Paul, however, but his reli-
gion, that was put on trial that day. And it has been on
trial ever since. " The word of the Lord is tried." Chris-
tianity has been through the fires of persecution ; it has
withstood the assaults of criticism ; it has been tested all
along the centuries in the histories of nations and men.
^ We ourselves have put it to the test in the experience
of our common life. And everywhere it has withstood
the strain. The gods innumerable whom the apostle
Paul confronted in Athens have all fallen to their faces on
the earth, and " none so poor to do them reverence."
Mars has not one worshipper, nor great Athene whose
spear and shield glittered in the sun. The gods are
gone, all gone. And the philosophies of Athens have
gone with them. Zeno, Epicurus, Plato, are scarcely
more than names. But the word of the Lord endureth for

ever.

14

2IO HINTS AND HELPS.

III. Observe the audience. Here were priests, doubt-
less, with the names of their deities worn as frontlets be-
tween their eyes. Here were philosophers and students
in their classic robes, representing all the various schools
by the Ilissus.

(i.) Stoics. These were Pantheists, who spoke of God
as '' the All," " the Universal Soul," and other terms
familiar to us in this day. They thought of man as an
exhalation from the all-pervading Force or Soul of the
Universe, whose destiny was to be absorbed presently,
like a drop of water in the boundless sea.

(2.) Epicureans. These were Materialists. They said,
" Death ends all." And, inasmuch as life was circum-
scribed by the narrow horizons of time and sense, what
better could they do than make the most of the present
hour? Their aphorism was, " Let us eat, drink, and be
merry, for to-morrow we die."

(3.) Academicians. These were Agnostics : they
dreamed many things, but knew nothing. All their sug-
gestions were advanced with a '' perhaps " or *' it may be
so." And, aside from these philosophers, there were
doubtless others who were eager to know about eternal
things, earnest, thoughtful, with a great longing to know
the truth and to follow it. There were, moreover, the
curiosity-mongers and hangers-on ; but all alike were im-
mortal men and women, made in God's likeness and trav-
elling on to his judgment-bar. Oh, Paul, preach thy best !
If thou believest in the saving power of the gospel, then,
in God's name, proclaim it without fear. Preach as a
dying man to dying men, and God help thee !

THE SERMON AND ITS RESULT.

IV. Observe the sermon. Its exordium was exceed-
ingly felicitous. Taking for his theme the inscription

PAUL AT ATHENS. 211

upon an altar which he had observed in the market-place,
'' To the Unknown God," and mindful of the multitudi-
nous shrines, statues, and other tokens of a religious spirit,
the apostle began by saying, " Ye men of Athens, I per-
ceive that in all things ye are exceedingly devout." It was
a clever compliment at the outset and gained him their
good-will. He announces his proposition thus : '' God,
the unseen, unknown God, him declare I unto you." He
then proceeds to show how God, so far from being really
unknown, has unveiled himself in many ways. We see
him in creation : '' He made the world and all things that
are therein." We mark his providence : " In him we
live and move and have our being." The preacher forti-
fies himself at this point by a quotation from one of their
own poets, Aratus, to wit, " We are also his offspring."
We note his goodness also preeminently in his grace. He
has made himself known in Jesus Christ, and in him has
brought life and immortality to light.

V. Observe the result. Paul's sermon was never fin-
ished. The assembly on Mars' Hill was abruptly broken
up. But no truth is ever spoken in vain. " For as the
rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and return-
eth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and
bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth
out of my mouth ; it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereto I sent it."

(i.) It is writen that ''some mocked." It was easy
for these philosophers to make sport of the stammering
little Jew. It was quite in their line to point their finger
at his grotesque doctrine of the crucified God. The res-
urrection and the judgment were preposterous to them.
The generation of mockers has not passed away.

212 HINTS AND HELPS.

(2.) Others said, '' We will hear thee again." But they
never did hear him again. No doutft as they sauntered
down from Areopagus, Hke modern congregations, they
dissected the preacher. *' That was a clever opening,"
said one, ^* wherein he compHmented our piety." '' Very
true," said another, '^ and I like his fervor. How he
warmed to his theme when he spoke of the judgment !"
A third said, '' He is a master of logic. Did you mark
his double syllogism, 'We are God's offspring, but we
are living souls ; living souls cannot be born of dead mat-
ter : ergo God is not a graven image ? Verily, the man
is a dialectician." '* Yes, and a master of hterature as
well. What could have been more appropriate than his
quotation from Aratus ?" Thus they all agreed that Paul
was a man of no common power and quite worthy of
another audience. '' We will hear him again," they said;
but the time never came. Once and again, Paul sailed by
the port of Athens, but that sermon was never resumed,
and the men of Athens never looked into his face again.
Oh why do people procrastinate ? Why do they wait
the more convenient season, when the only convenient
season is now ? Procrastination is in the nature of suicide.
Men do not mean to die ; they simply put off beginning
to hve.

" To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow
Creeps in this petty space from day to day
Till the last syllable of recorded time :
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.'*

There is a Russian legend of a man who intended to
build a splendid home. The materials were brought and
all things ready, but he put off from time to time the lay-
ing of the corner-stone, until at length death saved him
the trouble, as the legend puts it :

PAUL AT ATHENS. 21 3

" And thus in silent waiting stood
The piles of stones and piles of wood,
Till Death, who in his vast affairs
Ne'er puts off things as men do theirs,

" Winked at our hero as he passed.

* Your house is finished, sir, at last—
A narrow house, a house of clay.
Your mansion for an endless day/ '*

(3.) " Howbeit certain ones believed." Among these
were Dionysius, who is said to have been afterwards a bishop
of Athens, and Damaris, a woman. They listened to Paul's
announcement of life and immortality in Jesus Christ.
They said, '' This is true, and it is for me." We are wont
to plead earnestly in behalf of our ministers that they may
have the gift of tongues. Might it not be well to pray for
a while that the people may have the gift of ears ? There
are some creatures among the lower orders in nature
whose auricular organs are so constructed that they can
only hear the smaller sounds. They can detect the whis-
per of zephyrs, the murmur of brooks, the hum of insects;
but the roar of the earthquake or the crash of heaven's
artillery is nothing to them. In like manner there are
some of us who attend only to the smaller sounds that are
heard on the sensual levels of life, the call to wealth, to
pleasure, to perishable honors, and cannot hear the voice
of heaven inviting us to duty, to right living, to life and
immortality. Oh for the hearing ear and the understand-
ing heart !

God speaks to every one of us. He calls us to pardon
of sin and to peace that passeth understanding. There is
life in his word if we will heed it. But if we go our way,
like the man who seeth his face in a glass and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was, it were a thou-
sand-fold better had we never heard it.

214 HINTS AND HELPS.

PAUL AT CORINTH.

Acts i8:i-ii.

It is nearly impossible to give a theme to this pas-
sage. ''Paul at Corinth" evades it; and the evasion is
wise, because the lesson, short as it is, sums up pretty
nearly all of Paul's various experiences in preaching the
gospel. It is a fair epitome of his whole life. A reason-
able theme for the lesson would therefore be, '' Paul's
Experiences as a Preacher of the Gospel Epitomized at
Corinth." To give a shorter title would be to neglect
some precious part.

I. We see first something of the way in which Paul
moved about as an agent of the gospel.

I. Failure was the cause generally of his changing
his place of work. At some places (Antioch, Corinth,
Ephesus) he stayed a considerable time. It was because
his attempt to lead men to Christ there passed from the
point of endeavor to the point of success. At other places
(and how many could be named) he preached until he
was stoned out of the gates, or (what doubtless was quite
as bad to him) met with such complete unsusceptibility of
heart that not even antagonism was aroused. Paul had
not been maltreated at Athens, but he had made little or
no impression. One might have hoped that Athens,
which had prided itself through centuries upon being open
to receive all truth, would have listened to the gospel with
something better than a cynical smile. But worldly wis-
dom failed to recognize the wisdom of God. The wise in
their own eyes were shown to be foolish in the eyes of
heaven. It is easier to be learned than it is to be humble.

PAUL AT CORINTH. 21 5

2. That a place seemed unpromising for gospel work
did not deter Paul from entering it. Athens might have
been considered a favorable spot for the attempt and Cor-
inth not. But Paul went as readily to Corinth as to Ath-
ens. Corinth was a place of importance in two directions :
commercial and political. It was a great port and full of
rich men, who gave it the tone of luxury. It was also the
seat of the proconsul of Achaia (the Roman governor of
Southern Greece). From the luxurious fashionable set
^a who gave Corinthian society its character Paul could
hope for little, nor could he expect any heed from the
representatives of the Roman State, who would sneer at
anything religiouSj particularly if it came from among the
Jews. Nor could Paul expect much from the body of the
people, whose character was pretty much determined by
that of the leading classes. Yet what a mistake he would
have made if he had not gone to Corinth. He was to
win many souls there for Christ, was to establish one of
the best-known churches in Christendom there, and was
to spend a considerable part of his missionary life there.
If Paul had not gone to Corinth he would have lost one
of the seals of his ministry (i Cor. 9:2), one of his most
important letters of commendation written with the Spirit
of God (2 Cor. 3 : 2, 3), a considerable part of his reasons
for glorying (2 Cor. 7 : 4). The badness of a place is not
a good ground for keeping the gospel from it, but the
contrary. '' Nineveh, Sodom, Corinth — no city is so cor-
rupt that He does not send preachers of righteousness to
the people " (Starke in Lechler).

11. Paul had a definite way of determining who his
associates were to be in any place. There is nothing
mysterious in his method, nor is it different from that fol-
lowed by every other m.an. Each man by the laws of

2l6 HINTS AND HELPS.

personal affinity goes to '* his own." Paul naturally grav-
itated towards men of similar mind with himself.

1. He naturally sought out Jews. He was a Jew
himself and had the intense race-feeling which has always
distinguished "the peculiar people." (2 Cor. 11:22).
They were in a sense half way to the gospel already, in-
asmuch as they believed in the true God and his ancient
revelation; therefore they offered ground already pre-
pared for the sowing of the Word of life. Thus it was
that on coming to Corinth Paul made the acquaintance of
Aquila, He knew that in him he would have much in
common. Ways of living and thinking would be consid-
erably the same. Paul loved companionship, and here
alone in a strange city sought it along the line already
prepared.

2. The development of this friendship was assisted
by the similarity of occupation of the two men* Both
were tent-makers, a trade common in Cilicia, the apostle's
native land. Sameness of occupation is a very active ele-
ment in the making and estabHshing of friendships. We
do not look out over the world and say, " Where are
those whose friendship would be most congenial and best
for me in every way ?" We go about our daily tasks,
and among those we constantly and, as we may say, me-
chanically and involuntarily meet, are generally found
those who make our friends. We may accept this as a
law of life. Environment is largely given to us. And yet
not so that we cannot have any choice concerning it.
Some occupations will certainly lead us among worse
men than others. To make money is not the only thing
to be considered as we choose our life work and our life
associates.

3. Still another element was at work in the shaping

PAUL AT CORINTH. 21/

of Paul's relations with others — Providence. By chance,
some might say, Paul and Aquila, after many vicissitudes
for both, met in Corinth. Compared with the average
man's life, how strange had Paul's career been hitherto.
And Aquila had had his ups and downs. He had been
born in Pontus, thence had gone to Rome, had been
driven out by the decree of Claudius against the Jews,
and was now in Corinth. Paul driven from Athens,
Aquila driven from Rome, met at Corinth, the midway
centre of Roman commercial life. We may bless God
that his providence is at work in our lives, and especially
in our friendships. What mistakes we should make,
what misery we should unwittingly choose for ourselves,
if we were left alone. '' That happy calamity of Aquila,
then, admonishes us that the Lord often counsels better
for us when he afflicts us very grievously, than if he
should treat us with the greatest indulgence, and when he
drives us about through a sad exile, that he may conduct
us into heavenly quietude " (Calvin).

III. Paul's way of Hfe is set before us.
I. He pursued his trade. His having a trade was
due to the general habit among the Jews. " It was a
proverb among them that the father who neglected to
bring up his son to a trade taught him to be a thief"
(Hackett). " What is commanded of a father towards his
son ?" says a writer in the Talmud. " To circumcise him,
to teach him the law, to teach him a trade." The ques-
tion of a minister's pursuing a trade to-day is, as it was in
Paul's day, a matter of judgment. It is to be decided by
such questions as (a) its necessity and (b) its possibiHty.
Paul had a good reason for desiring to pay his own way.
There were some who insinuated that he was an apostle
for the money there was in it. (i Cor. 9: 12, 15.)

2l8 HINTS AND HELPS.

2. While Paul plied his trade among his fellow Jews
he was discussing religious questions with them and lay-
ing a foundation for the gospel. Doubtless he had many
an interesting conversation while at work and while rest-
ing when the day's work was over. Of these we have no
record. What is recorded is that on the Sabbath day he
went with his friends to the synagogue and there took the
opportunity, which was open to all, of discussing religious
matters. Paul shows us what we have seen in many an-
other life, that he who works not most hastily, but most
discreetly, works best. Many an enthusiast would have
accused Paul of wasting time at the beginning of his Cor-
inthian hfe. And yet Paul felt the burden of perishing
souls as few others have felt it, and he knew, as few oth-
ers have known, how best to commend the gospel of
Christ.

IV* Paul's increase of activity. If he had continued
his Corinthian work at the pace at which he began it, then
indeed he must have made a mistake. It is not a mistake
to make a discreet beginning, but it is a mistake to end
there. The time came when the ground was prepared
for the proclamation of the full gospel to the Corinthian
Jews. When that time came delay would have been not
discretion but cowardice.

I. The change in Paul's procedure seems to have
been due to the coming of Silas and Timothy from Mace-
donia (v. 5). He was troubled about the condition of the
church he had left in Thessalonica, and his companions
relieved his mind on that point (i Thes. 3 : 6). But more
important than this, he felt weak and depressed while at
Corinth (i Cor. 2:3). This may have been partly due
to physical reasons, such as made his Galatian ministry
trying (Gal. 4: 13, 14). At any rate the sympathy and

PAUL AT CORINTH. 219

help (2 Cor. i : 19) of Silas and Timothy must have meant
much to him. He was a man, like other men, suscepti-
ble to influence. And with his friends he decided that
the time for bringing out the full gospel had come, the
time when Corinth (like Athens) must decide whether it
would entertain or drive out the truth of God.

2. The result was that which was common with Paul
in similar circumstances — opposition. The opposition
rose to the point of intense ridicule, literally blasphemy,
of the apostle's words. And what was it all about ? The
simple declaration that Jesus was the Christ (v. 5). With
us opposition to the gospel is not generally open and
scoffing as at Corinth ; it is rather in the heart. But it is
genuine, mighty, and persistent. The natural man re-
ceiveth not the things of God. We must expect then
that men wall always antagonize their own coming to
Christ. Opposition is the normal attitude of man's unre-
generate heart towards divine truth.

V. Paul changed his plan at this point. He had
worked hitherto along the line of friendship. He had
conciliated. Now he rises with the moral dignity of a
messenger of God, and shaking out his garment that not
a grain of dust from the place may cleave to him, he cries,
" Your blood be upon your own heads ; I am clean : from
henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles " (v. 6).

I. This invoking of the testimony of the dust was a
common Oriental method of cursing one's enemies, and
was full of terror to those who witnessed it. The purpose
of Paul in resorting to it was not however that anger
which usually occasioned it, nor did he use it, we may
feel sure, as a curse. But here, as at Antioch in Pisidia
(Acts 13:51), it was done to impress those with whom
Paul had labored in vain with a sense of their own aban-

220 HINTS AND HELPS.

doned condition before God. It was to press home upon
their hearts, by something which meant more to them
than any words could mean, the thought that they were
lost men, in order that they might be led to repentance
and so not be lost. It was not an invocation of wrath
upon them, but rather a warning to flee from wrath.

2. Paul next tried what generally speaking would
have been called the more unfavorable ground, since he
had had no success where he had been entitled to expect
it. In the same way in which he had been driven from
Athens to less favorable Corinth he was driven from Jew-
ish Corinth to the less favorable Gentile Corinth. Paul,
we may say, pressed his way forward along the line of
least resistance. If he found Christians he went to them ;
if not, to Jews ; if he found the Jews did not receive him,
he turned to the devout Gentiles, to which class belonged
Titus Justus.

VI. The results at last appear. If there had been no
results, Paul in a sense would have accomplished his
mission. Yet what every preacher is after is conversions,
and if these do not follow he cannot but feel that his work
is pretty much a failure. And he is right in this. For
the Word of God is meant to save men, and God intends
to give it his blessing. What then if conversions do not
follow preaching ? What did Paul do ? He went to an-
other place.

I. The results were great. He preached in a Gentile
house (i. e., that of Titus Justus ; Paul still lived with
Aquila), and the ruler of the synagogue was converted.
Was it that last warning of the shaking off" the dust that
led to this ? Somehow the most extreme conquest which
Paul could have asked was won. The chief of the party
that had rejected him had succumbed. His household

PAUL AT CORINTH. 221

(as in the case of the jailer at Phihppi) came with him,
*'and many of the Corinthians hearing beHeved" (v. 8).
Athens, which might have been expected to give much
to Christ, gave nothing. Dissolute Corinth, which might
have been expected to give nothing to Christ, gave much.
So does the gospel find a welcome in the unlikeliest
hearts and the grace of God find a home in the darkest
spots. You never can tell where the gospel will win its
way. It is ours to press onward in every direction.

2. After Paul's discouragement there came this as-
tounding success. After ten years of seemingly unfruitful
labor in China, there came the beginnings of what is now
the largest Christian church in that empire. So God re-
minds us that it is all his work, and that where we have
failed he can yet do marvels ; and so he sends us the sun-
light of success after the long darkness of waiting. Un-
less we are better than Paul we may expect times of dis-
couragement ; and, bless God, we may also expect times
of deep rejoicing.

VII. The divine encouragement is given to Paul in a
vision (vv. 9, 10). The extraordinary means taken to
reassure him may probably be viewed as an indication
that he needed reassuring very much. Perhaps his physi-
cal weakness still depressed him. At any rate he needed
encouragement, and needed it very much. It was given
to him :

I. By the presence of God. Paul had his companions
now with him. But he was lonesome for a stronger than
they, and God came himself Even the strongest souls
have such hours of longing after God. Luther once said,
" Many persons, to whom I often seem to be cheerful in
my outward appearance, suppose that I am always walk-
ing on roses ; but God knows what my true condition is.'*

222 HINTS AND HELPS.

But is not God everywhere always ? Yes, but he mani-
fests himself at some times more than at others, and then
especially we call him present. We long to have God
with us, but beyond that, to know that he is with us.
And in many ways God lets us know, and in the know-
ledge gives us deep comfort.

2. The Lord encouraged Paul with a double promise :
(a), that no one should harm him, although danger would
menace him as he boldly preached the truth ; (b), that he
should have many converts for Christ, for this seems to
be implied in the expression, '' for I have much people in
this city " (v. lo). So Paul was reminded anew and
doubly that his work was more God's than his own. Like
Christ's, his life was perfectly safe until '' his hour " had
come. Before that, shipwreck and stoning, disease and
the lions were ahke powerless. And before Paul had set
foot in Corinth the Lord had been there and set his seal
upon his own. Here again we meet the problem of the
divine and human at work together — of foreordination
and human freedom, both true, and yet irreconcilable
perfectly to our present comprehension. But to the apos-
tle of the cross there is great comfort as he leads God's
own to come out and confess God, in knowing that God
has been there before him and marked them for himself
(2 Tim. 2 : 19.)

VI IL General lessons.

1. The gospel has an irregular movement: all is not
success, all is not failure.

2. Our duty is to press on without ceasing.

3. God is with us. The powers that resist the gos-
pel are nothing to the power that befriends it.

4. Success is sure; in multitudes of places it has
proved immediate.

PAUL AT EPHESUS. 223

PAUL AT EPHESUS.

Acts 19:1-12.

The picture of Paul at Ephesus, like that of Paul on
the Areopagus, appeals powerfully to the imagination.
Paul at Athens stands for Christianity flinging down its
challenge to the world-philosophies ; Paul at Ephesus, the
rich port of the Orient, the seat of the splendid worship
of Diana, the most dissolute spot on the globe, stands for
Christianity summoning iniquitous heathenism to wash
and be clean.

This marvellous spectacle is not more interesting
however as a whole than in its details. The idea of Paul's
being at Ephesus at all provokes immediate attention, but
not more than the special things which happened to him
there.

Among these is his meeting with the twelve disciples
of John the Baptist. This last mention in the New Testa-
ment of the great forerunner of the Messiah sets before us
the strangest, most romantic, most pathetic figure of the
New Testament years. The life of John the Baptist to an
earthly judgment seems a most pitiful failure. After long
years of preparatory meditation in the desert he enters
upon an altogether worthy humanitarian mission, to suc-
ceed after a fashion for a brief time, then to fall into the
hands of an unscrupulous king and to have life go out like
a snuffed candle; and beside this, how pitiful that even
success meant not success for self, but the exaltation of
another. There is nothing more sublimely touching in
history than the complete self-effacement of John the Bap-
tist, who truly said of himself that he was but a voice in

224 HINTS AND HELPS.

the wilderness — a voice that gives a message but tells
nothing of him who delivers it : the message everything,
the man nothing.

But such a judgment of John the Baptist contains
much error. We think of his work as being effaced. Yet
here are twelve men, a quarter of a century after they
have heard him, holding fast to the truths he taught.
Who can tell how many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
other lives there were, of whom we have never heard, who
received at the hands of the Baptist for all eternity the
impress of divine truth ? Call no man's life unsuccessful
because its results are not visible or measurable to us. -
Moreover, John the Baptist had the honor of being the
greatest of forerunners. We do not think of Elijah as
deserving pity. He was a great man, far more apt to be
envied than pitied. Yet John the Baptist was greater than
he. To him was given the unique privilege of being the
herald of the Son of God. What could man ask more
than to tell of the coming of the King? But this after all
is only relative work. John the Baptist did nothing that
stands for himself. All his work was but a pedestal for
some one else to stand upon. So says some o'er-sympa-
thetic heart. Yes, but the work of all men at last is only
relative. No man liveth to himself No man is self-made
or self-ending. We are all but finger-posts. Most bless-
ed among men then was he who pointed most plainly and
immediately to the Saviour of the world. John the Bap-
tist deserves not our pity but our congratulation.

Such thoughts concerning the forerunner are sug-
gested to us by the appearance before Paul at Ephesus of
twelve men who had accepted John's message and had
cherished it for thirty years. Now let us study the lessons
of their appearance.

PAUL AT EPHESUS. 225

I. We see in their case the reality of ari imperfect
Christianity. There are certain simple things which,
once truly possessed, make one a Christian. The line
between death and salvation has been passed. Much ad-
vance is still possible, but it does not make the fact of
one's being a Christian one whit more real. The feeblest,
weakest Christian is just as truly saved as the strongest
and most advanced in the things of God.

I. The truth of this statement is plain in the case of
these twelve disciples of John the Baptist. Just what they
knew and just what they did not know has been much
disputed by commentators, and to little use, as the Bible
record is so slight. " Those twelve m^ who come for-
ward so abruptly in our history disappear as suddenly,
leaving us in doubt whence they came, where they had
been, and in some respects what particular phase of reli-
gious belief they represented. The episode is one of
strange interest from the very fact of its suggesting so
many questions, the solution of which our imperfect
knowledge of the first Christian age has put beyond our
reach." (Hackett) What was the extent of the Chris-
tianity of these men? (a) They had repented of sin
and put their faith in a coming (and as yet unknown) Sa-
viour, and had confessed this faith in baptism (vv. 3, 4).
(bj They had known as much of the Holy Spirit as was
common among the Jews and as was known to John, but
they had not the specially definite knowledge of him
given after the ascension of Christ, and particularly that
manifestation of the Spirit which came through miracles.
Nevertheless they were true Christians, for Luke calls
them " disciples " (v. i), which he would not have done in
the quiet time when he wrote this record of the Acts
without full cognizance of its meaning.

Hints aiul Helps j j-

226 HINTS AND HELPS.

2» The general inference follows for ourselves that
one may be a real Christian though a very imperfect one.
If a wide knowledge of divine truth in its extension and
a deep experimental knowledge of its separate elements
were required at the entrance, who could be saved ?
What would become of all the little children who know
Christ and accept and love him in a child's way and wit-
ness in their lives that they are Christ's? Who indeed
among the old and maturely experienced Christians could
assert himself equal to such tests? Bless God, the way
into eternal life is so simple that a simple-minded man, a
child, a stupid Hottentot, can find it even in the twilight
of the mind. How gracious is the Lord in accepting us
when there is so little in us that would seem to warrant
him in calHng us his. And yet that little is everything.
Faith may be smaller than a mustard -seed to the eye, yet
if it be genuine it has in it a mountain-moving potency.
'' BeHeve on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved." Christ never asked any man how much he knew
or how deeply he felt or how good he was. '' Repent
and believe " was his one message to the whole world.

3. Yet one thing must be said : that a genuine faith
is one which utihzes what knowledge it has. The mes-
sage of John the Baptist was very fragmentary compared
to the full revelation of God's truth given by Christ, yet it
had in it the power of salvation. Even this imperfect
truth was stored with the possibility of eternal life — but
only by being truly accepted and utilized. The measure
of our learning unto eternal life is not how much truth we
have heard (as by preaching and teaching and reading),
but how much we have incorporated into our own being.
A very little food will save a human life, but not until it is
assimilated.

PAUL AT EPHESUS. 22/

II. The Story of the twelve Johannean disciples shows
us the necessity of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life.
The reply of the men to Paul's question looks as though
they had never known that there was such an existence as
the Holy Spirit. But this is incredible in men who were
probably Jews and certainly disciples of John — who knew
of the Holy Spirit. Their reply must be understood in
the light of Paul's question (v. 2). And that question
must be understood by the sequel when the Holy Spirit
was given (v. 6). The Holy Spirit was given to them in
miraculous form (it led them to speak '' with tongues '*
and to prophesy), and this was the form of manifestation
Paul was inquiring about and they were answering about.
They meant therefore that they knew nothing of a Holy
Spirit miraculously manifested; they did not intend to
say they knew nothing at all of the existence of the Holy
Spirit.

I. It was necessary that they should receive the Holy
Spirit. The form in which they received Him was con-
ditioned by the circumstances of the time. It was an age
of beginnings. It was an age when miracles were rightly
understood (as they would not be in this Huxleyan age)
and had their proper evidential weight. Moreover, Christ
had left the earth to take his throne in glory, and miracles
were particularly calculated to allay the doubt of Christ's
continued existence and power which must arise in the
first years of his bodily absence. Powerful signs were an
evidence of Christ's enthronement. It was necessary
therefore that, in addition to that enlightenment of the
Holy Spirit which is given to all at the beginning of the
Christian life, and which continues to be given as the
Christian life develops, there should be given to believers
at that time this special endowment of the Spirit for tern-

228 HINTS AND HELPS.

porary purposes which came by the laying on of apos-
tohc hands.

2. The same necessity for the Spirit's presence holds -
with us. The form of the Spirit's manifestation has
doubtless changed. Miracles have ceased because the
conditions which evoked them from God have long van-
ished, never to reappear. But the immediate depend-
ence of the human soul upon supernatural enHghtenment,
guidance, and power is for ever necessary. The place
of the Holy Spirit in the scheme of salvation is un-
changeable. God the Father, out of love for men, devised
a way to save them from their sins. God the Son came
to earth and accomplished that plan, working out salva-
tion on the cross. God the Holy Spirit prepares our
hearts to receive that salvation and applies it to them. If
a man could save himself he would not need supernatural
help, he would not need the Holy Spirit. But a man's
thinking does not save him ; his working himself up to a
height of poignant feeling does not save him ; his making
resolutions to lead a better life (or even his accomplish-
ment of them) does not save him. Salvation is in a
change of heart, in being made a new creature before
God. This is a superhuman work. It is the office of the
Holy Spirit, who accomplishes it in us by leading us into
a saving faith in Christ.

3. Always ought we therefore to be praying for the
presence of the Holy Spirit. He makes ours all that
Christ has secured for us at such infinite cost ; and with-
out him we are nothing and can do nothing. Among the
things Christians ask for every day there ought always to
be named the blessing of the Spirit.

III. Although a very small faith has in it the power
of salvation, yet there remains the duty of full belief.

PAUL AT EPHESUS. 229

These twelve men heard of that which supplemented
John's message, of the coming of the Messiah whom John
foretold. They accepted Christ. They were baptized.
This re-baptism has puzzled everybody, and it is not to
be fully explained. Certainly all of John's followers were
not baptized over again when they followed Jesus. From
this passage we learn that some of them were. When
they were re-baptized and when not was probably left to
the discretion of the apostles. It is impossible therefore
for us to draw any inference from this passage or con-
struct any rule upon it. The point to be noticed is, that
when these men found the opportunity of making their
imperfect faith more complete they at once took advan-
tage of it.

1. Opportunity is of God. God gave them the
chance to hear John the Baptist. They beHeved the
message they heard as far as it went. God by his provi-
dence had withheld from them full Christian knowledge.
Then after a time he gave them another opportunity,
which they also embraced. It is a helpful thought that
God's providence is similarly directing us in our Christian
opportunities. There are some far away from church
privileges, away from libraries, away from the possibility
of reading Christian newspapers. Providence has cut off
opportunity of growth by these external helps. Let such
souls take courage. God has not forgotten them ; he is
leading them in his own way. And what shall those of us
say who are in possession of all those helps to Christian
knowledge and life which only a highly organized Chris-
tian civilization can offer ? Surely we should thank God
for our rich opportunities.

2. These men showed by their conduct that they had
a desire for a more perfect faith. They had used what

230 HINTS AND HELPS.

opportunity they had and were longing for more. The
reason of Christian lethargy is never lack of opportunity,
but failure to use what opportunities one has, which im-
plies absence of the longing for growth. The smallness
of Christian knowledge is not against it, but deadness is,
even if it be very large. A little thing which is increasing
will soon eclipse a big thing which is defunct. If a Chris-
tian is hungry let him take hope. Those that hunger
shall be filled. Despise not the day of small things, but
despise the day of dead things.

3. When these twelve men had a chance to have a
new accretion of Christian faith they accepted it instantly
(v. 5). There was promptitude in their belief because
desire had gone before it. When the new knowledge
came they did not have to debate whether they wanted it
or not. The antecedent processes of their hungry souls
had been such that they flew to it like iron to the mag-
net. Oh that we might be more anxious in our own
hearts for a deeper experience of the grace of God, so
that when God offers it to us we should not feel surprised
at its form or hesitate about accepting it or repine at it !
Blessed are those who thirst after God and who let God
come to them without surprise.

IV. The seal of success was given to Paul's labor in
Ephesus (vv. 8-12). The blessing of heaven was upon
his endeavors (vv. 11, 12) in such a form that no one
could mistake it.

I. The form was unusual, for special reasons which
have already been named. Miracles were wrought be-
cause at that time miracles needed to be wrought. What
lay back of the miracles, however, was the sanction and
empowerment of God. And these we need to-day upon
whatever of good we attempt. We cannot see any good

PAUL AT EPHESUS. 23 1

results from teaching divine truth unless God blesses it,
or from trying to comfort the troubled unless God's Spirit
accompanies our words. All spiritual success requires
God with us.

2. Extensive success was part of the corroboration of
Paul's work being God's work. " All they which dwelt in
Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks"
(v. 10). We are not judges of times and seasons. A
man may preach long and teach long without signs of
result, and yet be doing God's work. But such a state of
things is abnormal. The rule is that the word shall not
return void. It is meant to save ; God promises his bless-
ing ; therefore ordinarily, if all be true in the conditions,
it must save. One may well look into the genuineness of
a conversionless Christian work.

3. Intensive success was an additional proof of the
divineness of Paul's work. There was a high degree of
faith in those who believed (v. 12). Christian success
has two dimensions : we ask of it, ^' How many believe ?'*
and also, ''How much do they believe?" What great
honor was put upon Paul's labor, in that the blessing of
God was given in such a way that many believed much !
A few beHeving much or many believing little would have
been far less of success. Is not God willing to give us
such success to-day ? Why should we always be defend-
ing the genuineness of small Christian success and look-
ing up those things which are meant to comfort in times
of discouragement, when God wants to give a great and
continuous blessing ?

232 HINTS AND HELPS.

PAUL AT MILETUS.

Acts 20:22-35.

In some of his remarkable experiences Paul seems
far l*emoved from us. We read but we do not compre-
hend, for there are no analogies in our own life. But
when we come to his farewell at Miletus to the Ephesian
elders, when we read his affectionate words, when we see
the tears of those strong men as they brought their dear
friend to the ship that was to bear him away from their
sight for the last time, our own hearts are moved and we
understand. We too have loved and have said farewell.
Yes, we know. Paul is one of us. This touch of nature
makes us kin.

The part of his pointed, plain, and yet tenderly kind
address set before us for our study suggests two lines of
thought : the duties of Christian service, and the blessings
of Christian service.

I. The duties of Christian service, Paul's address is
primarily applicable to officers in the Christian church,
since it was addressed to elders, and from it many an
installation sermon and ministerial charge has been
preached to those who were set to be shepherds of the
Lord's flock. And yet most of the matters treated of
concern quite as much all who are trying to do any
work for the Lord ; and as all Christians ought to
have some such work, inasmuch as they are called unto
service, the passage has an apphcation to every Chris-
tian life.

I. The first duty which, as our passage suggests, is
expected of a servant of Christ, is to endure hardness.

PAUL AT MILETUS. 233

Wherever Paul went the Holy Ghost testified to him
through some of his fellow- Christians that he was to find
bonds and afflictions (v. 23). See 13:2; 21:4, 10, 11.
He expected these things as a necessary part of his ser-
vice for Christ. He was not surprised at them therefore,
but had so counted on them and come to understand them
that they even ministered to his joy (Phil, i : 18). Now
as well as then to serve Christ consistently and earnestly
invokes opposition and trial. The thorn-road and none
other is the way we must go. Courage is one of the most
essential Christian virtues.

2. It is a Christian's duty to live faithfully in the
present (v. 22). Paul knew not what was in store for
him, beyond the general fact that it was trial. But his
ignorance of the future did not trouble him. He had
been through a stormy past and had found God in it, and
he knew he would find him in the future. Therefore he
had no need to worry, but only to turn his thought to-
wards that which was his to deal with, the one day of the
present. It would be a wise habit for us Christians if we
could remember to say to ourselves every morning, ^' This
day I must live as though it were to be my last." It is
well for us to have a wide outlook over life, '' to see life
clearly and see it whole ;" but the wide view must not
displace the narrow view of the one present day, as im-
portant as any day ever to be Hved by us, which is now
ours to use for God.

3. It is our duty to accomplish our appointed work
(24). The important matter to Paul was not whether
he had ''a good time," whether he suffered or not, but
whether he did the Lord's work set for him to do. Do
we ever say to ourselves, '' God has a definite limited
work for me to do ; have I found it, and am I doing- it ?"

234 HINTS AND HELPS.

How often do we earnestly ask, expecting a definite an-
swer, *' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" Are we con-
scious of having a work for the Lord in hand ? Paul's work
was '' to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Is that
not the sum and substance of the life-work of every true
Christian ? What is Christian experience but an increas-
ingly deeper appropriation of the truth of God in Christ ?
And what is Christian activity but an increasing manifes-^
tation in conduct of the fact that we have so received
Christ ? To get and to give are the parallel functions of
Christian living ; and if the second be lacking, life is only
half life. And we must not put God off by contenting
ourselves with the silent testimony of good Christian
lives. This is much as an offering to Christ. But he
expects also the testimony of the lips, and this especially
Paul had in mind when he spoke of his ministry. When
last did we testify openly for Christ ? How frequently
have we done so ? How large a part does such testifying
occupy in our definite plan of life, if we have such a
plan?

4. In testifying or teaching it is our duty to declare
the whole counsel of God (v. 27). This is something one
may hesitate to do, but Paul did not shrink from it. He
let God decide what truth is, and on his part accepted it,
all of it, and proclaimed it, all of it. What Paul has in
mind here is the will of God as expressed in the gospel
plan of salvation. All truth for us converges in this.
Christ and him crucified was all Paul wanted to know.
But what is there in this which one should hesitate to
proclaim? There are many things connected with it
which are not proclaimed as they ought to be. Such are
the infinite holiness of God, his unchanging justice, his
hatred of sin, his edict that "the soul that sinneth it shall

PAUL AT MILETUS. 235

die," his requirement of perfect holiness in the soul of
man, his declaration that " all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God,'' his provision in the death of his Son
for the abolition of the guilt of sin, his settlement upon
faith in Christ as the indispensable way of reconciliation
with him, his requirement that those who accept Christ
should serve him. The gospel is a stumbling-block and
foolishness to-day as much as ever. As Paul, neverthe-
less, did not hesitate to proclaim it everywhere, neither
should we — the gospel as it is, the power of God unto
salvation.

5. It is our duty to feed the fiock (v. 28). This is
especially appHcable to all who are '' bishops " or over-
seers (as the elders of the Ephesian church were), but is
there not a sense in which it is applicable to all Christians ?
If God gives us anything that is good, shall we keep it to
ourselves ? Especially if he gives us the bread of life,
shall we not share it with those who are hungry for it ?
How much Christian experience is wasted, that is, how
much knowledge of his grace God is giving us all the
time, in our trials and joys, in our study and in our busi-
ness, which we do not impart to any one else, but keep
wholly to ourselves. How much the flock of Christ
would be blessed if every sorrowing Christian who looks
to God for comfort found out some other grief-stricken
heart and offered comfort to it. What we have let us
give.

6. We are to watch against the enemy (vv. 29-31).
The destroyer of souls never demits his oflice. He goes
about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
But he comes also in the guise of an angel of light. He
appears as a teacher of truth that he may lead men astray.
Paul is not referring here to those Jews and heathen who

236^ HINTS AND HELPS.

antagonized the gospel wherever it went. He refers to
evil men who hypocritically came into the church (v. 29)
with the deliberate purpose of doing harm, and to others
within the church who were led to backslide and to try to
influence others in the same direction (v. 30). Examples
of such were Hymenaeus and Philetus, who taught that
the resurrection is past already and overthrew the faith of
some (2 Tim. 2:17); and the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:2,
6), who, holding that the body is nothing, taught that
the indulgence of bodily lusts could not be evil, and
so led many into sin. Any man who knows more
about truth than the Bible, or can show a better way
than the way of Christ, or tries to weaken the upright-
ness of his fellows, had better be watched and guarded
against.

7. A Christian ought to be unselfish (vv. 33-35).
Paul did not covet the possessions of the Ephesians ; as
a proof of it he reminded them that he had earned his own
living while among them. He was not living to get. His
getting, what little there was of it, was only that he might
live, and his Hving was for an end still beyond, namely,
the accomplishing of the work appointed by God for him
to do. Possessions were nothing, life itself was nothing,
compared with the leading of souls to the knowledge of
Jesus Christ. No man ever forsook more of the good
things the world can give in order that he might serve
Christ than Paul. It was not likely that he would go
back to something less than that which he had already
given up. Would that we ail might truly feel that the
work of Christ is the one thing of importance to us, to
which everything else must yield.

8. It is our duty to help the weak (v. 35). It is pos-
sible that Paul means that the Ephesian elders ought to

PAUL AT MILETUS. 237

imitate him in living by a trade and not by the gifts of the
congregation, so that any man who might have been
weak enough to object to the latter course would not be
offended but helped by them. As this is rather far-
fetched, it is better (with Hackett) to understand Paul as
meaning that out of the fruit of our labors we ought to
give to those who are unfortunate enough not to be able
to work for themselves. Here then Christian charity, in
the sense of giving, is taught. We are reminded of how
Christ said that in comforting those who were sick, in
clothing the needy, in visiting those in prison, we were
doing these services to him. He has gone out of our sight,
but he has left suffering marikind as his visible representa-
tive for us to help.

9. In all our doing we should remember the words
and example of our Lord (v. 35). He is our pattern.
Our constant question should be : '' Would this, which I
purpose doing, have fitted on consistently to the life of
Jesus Christ ?" It is no doubt true that Christians try to
copy Christ in a general way. But our likeness to the
pattern would be greatly increased if our endeavor were
more conscious in details. Striving after a general like-
ness we sometimes miss it in particulars, whereas if we
strove after it in particulars we could not fail to secure it
as a whole.

II. We turn now to the blessings of Christian service.
Duty is not for blessing's sake, it is for its own sake. But
according to a beneficent arrangement of God, it is never
without its blessing.

I. It is a blessing to suffer for Christ (v. 23). It is
not blessed in itself to suffer. Pain is painful everywhere
and alwa3^s. But ''for Christ" transforms pain into joy.
This is Christianity's triumph. The stoic can suffer

238 HINTS AND HELPS.

bravely enough. He can " grin and bear it.'* But this
is far from being able to say as Paul said, " I joy in tribu-
lations." No wonder that with such transforming power
Christianity was able to conquer the Roman Empire,
fortified with the Hons, the stake, and the rack ! '' I
bless God for this day," was doubtless said by many
a martyr as well as Justin. Life brings its agonies to
God's people as well as to others ; but they have the joy,
which no others have, of being able to say truthfully to
themselves, " I know that all things work together for
good."

2. The love of Christian fellowship (vv. 25, 31). We
can almost imagine we hear Paul's voice trembling with
emotion, as w^e can see the tears springing to his eyes,
while he tells these Ephesian friends how he has tried to
serve them. There are many pleasant relations possible
in this life, through God's kindness to us, but none is
more lofty, more wholly worthy, than that of friendship in
Jesus Christ. Other friendships are sweet while they last,
but these alone are eternal, these alone are without the
shadow of an approaching end. There are those who
will make no intimate friends because then there will be
no breaking of the heart-strings at last ; and so life is
denuded of what is best in it. The Christian need have
no such fear, need lead no such decapitated life. '' Make
all the friends you can," says Christ, " for you and yours
will be kept one in me eternally."

3. A good conscience (v. 26). There is no peace of
mind to him who, when he thinks at all, must remember
duties unaccomplished. How can there be any reason-
able contentment in a life misspent ? God has made us
so purposely that we shall be unhappy until we try to
make life worth living by serving him in Christ.

PAUL AT MILETUS. 239

4. Helping others spiritually (v. 28). If one has
money it is pleasant to use it in relieving others' suffer-
ings. If he has ability of mind, it is a joy to help others
in the difficulties of their thinking. But better than these
is it to know Jesus Christ and lead others to accept him
as their Saviour. And within the Christian fold there is
offered to us the rare privilege of seeking to help one
another into a deeper Christian knowledge and experience
and a wider Christian usefulness. '' Bear ye one another's
burdens " is not a law, it is a permission of pleasure.

5. It is a blessing to know that we are carrying on
the worthy work of the past (v. 31). Paul had labored
among the Ephesians. He had done a good work.
These elders were to have the privilege of carrying it on
after he was gone. It is a thrilling thought that in labor-
ing for Christ we are not standing alone in toil, but are
perpetuating what is best in the past, are taking our share
in doing the world's work, are performing the right func-
tion of the living who stand between the past and the
future, and are filling our place in the great achievement
of history, the development of the kingdom of Christ.

6. We are specially under God's care (v. 32). Paul
commended his dear friends at Ephesus to God, and he
knew God would take care of them. Surely they were
comforted by this when the perplexing hours came when
they missed Paul most. They knew a better friend even
than Paul was with them. Apostles, pastors, teachers,
parents, friends go " the way of all the earth." We miss
their strength and sympathy and wisdom in counsel.
But God, to whom they prayerfully commended us and
the church they loved, has not forgotten the trust. He
is with us, his strength and sympathy shall not fail us.

7. One blessing of the Christian life is to be built up

240 HINTS AND HELPS.

in all that is good (v. 32). God is able to do this, and we
believe, nay, we know, he does it. We feel as Augustine
felt, that poor as his life was, whatever good there was in
it was due to the grace of God. Somewhat we know
God has done for us, in faith, in knowledge, in Christian
character. But how much more he would build us up if
we would but let him.

8. We have an inheritance among all them that aj^e
sanctified (v. 32). This may refer to the reward of
heaven. But it is likely that it refers to the reward of
earth also (similarly Acts 26: 18; Eph. i : 18). In both
respects we have a blessed estate. As to the future, we
know that eye hath not seen nor ear heard its glories.
And even as to the present, we probably do not appre-
ciate all our privilege. Is it nothing to belong to the
noble army of saints and martyrs ? Is it nothing to have
our names joined with the purest and best of the ages ?
Bless God for our glorious earthly as well as our more
glorious, heavenly heritage !

9. Last of all, but not least, comes the blessedness
of self-denial (v. 35). How precious this new beatitude
of our Saviour ! The paradox in it stamps it as His who
said we must lose our life to find it. And we can see
how Paul came to preserve it and cherish it — Paul, who
said that he was dead, but that he lived in Christ. But
it was not its paradoxical form that made Paul love it.
He had tried it and, like his dear Lord before him, had
found it true. May the Saviour, who gave up all things,
and who for all his travail is still satisfied, give us a like
mind with his, that we may understand the strange joy
that was his, the joy of the sacrifice of self!

PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 24 1

PAUL AT JERUSALEM.

Acts 21:27-39.

Paul's attitude towards the Jewish law must be taken
into account in order to understand the reason for the
tumult at Jerusalem and the injustice of those who led it.

Paul spoke as vigorously as one could speak against
the law as a means of salvation. Justification, the accept-
ance of the soul as just, that is, holy, in the eyes of God,
was only by means of faith in Jesus Christ, by which his
death on the cross is made our own and accepted by God
as an atonement for our sins and his perfect righteousness
is imparted to us, so that God treats us as though we were
and always had been spotlessly innocent. The law had no
such function. Let a man try to live up to it as hard as
he chose, yet he would still be seen to be guilty in the
eyes of God. The law therefore was powerless to save.

At the same time Paul was a Jew with the most intense
national feeling. So much did he love his brother Israel-
ites that he could almost have wished himself accursed
from God if thereby they might be saved. Paul loved
the old religious habits of his childhood, and whenever he
went to Jerusalem he seems to have found great enjoy-
ment in going up to the temple to celebrate the feasts.
Not because such things had any value for salvation
(which is in Christ alone), but because they gave spiritual
comfort and joy.

So far as his fellow- Christians were concerned, Paul
held that their relation to the law should be determined
by their own antecedents. If a man were born a Gentile
Paul would not counsel him to learn Jewish religious hab-

Hlnts and Helps 1 6

242 HINTS AND HELPS.

its. If a man was born a Jew, however, there was no
harm in his keeping the old law so long as it was under-
stood not to have saving power. He himself acted ac-
cording to circumstances. He was a Jewish Christian to
Jewish Christians and a Gentile Christian to Gentile
Christians.

When Paul came to Jerusalem in the year 58 A. D.,
he found he had been preceded by a report that he was
utterly opposed to Jewish Christians observing any of the
old Jewish habits and that he tried to turn them from
them. It was proposed that he should do something to
show that he did not thus condemn the old Jewish cus-
toms by taking up one of them openly and conspicuous-
ly : he was to share in a vow which was being performed
by certain men, which was of such a character that every-
body would know that Paul was occupied with it. This
he did.

But just as he was completing the accomplishment of
the vow some Jews from Ephesus found him in the tem-
ple, and repeating the old calumnies about his opposition
to Jewish life (which were shown to be calumnies by
Paul's presence there in the very act of fulfilling a Jewish
vow), raised a tumult which almost resulted in the loss of
his life.

The episode suggests study in four directions.

I. Paul.

I. He was truly a lover of his own people. Wher-
ever he went he sought them out first, not only because
strategically this was wisest, but because he truly liked to
be with them. He was never above feeling satisfaction in
the thought that he had been born a Jew. And no higher
encomiums of the old Jews could be imagined than such as
could be gathered from the writings and speeches of Paul.

PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 243

He kept up his Jewish habits of life, or he would not have
been tolerated among Jews wherever he went even for a
moment. He loved to go to the feasts at the capital.
He advised one who was born a Jew when he became a
Christian not to feel obliged to abandon Jewish rites
(i Cor. 7 : 18). Undoubtedly Paul had more real sympa-
thy with Jewish religious ideas than many of those in the
crowd who condemned him.

2. There was a possibility, we might safely say a cer-
tainty, that Paul's position would be misunderstood. For
while he kept up his Jewish habits it was not because he
thought (as the Jews thought) that they had saving power.
They were external matters connected chiefly with ways
of living and ways of worshipping. They were not really
essential to the religious life, but only helpful in it, if one
thought them helpful and used them aright. Among
Gentiles Paul did not observe them. The Jews looked
upon them as necessary for all ; Paul looked upon them
as good only for those who found them good. In a cer-
tain Hmited sense Paul stood by Jewish habits. And yet
his removing them from the class of necessaries to the
class of things optional was undoubtedly the first step
towards their abolition. Spontaneously they would be
abandoned one by one, as new habits, formed under the
new ideas of Christianity, began to spread. Paul's posi-
tion thus had such complex relations that it was difficult
to be understood and pretty certain to be misrepresented.

3. His immediate intention in the matter which
brought him into difficulty was good. He had no inten-
tion towards the Jews. He was not trying to conciHate
them. They were not in his thought at all. His mind
was upon the thousands of Jews who had become Chris-
tians (Acts 21 : 20) who were still zealous for the law, i. e.,

244 HINTS AND HELPS.

kept up faithfully Jewish habits of living. For them Paul
held that this was perfectly right (so long of course as
they did not ascribe saving power to such habits). He
had been reported as taking the position that they were
wrong. In order to put himself into cordial relations with
them and to reassure them concerning himself, he under-
took the open performance of a vow. His design in the
matter was wholly honorable and kind. Paul was not
the belligerent, heavy-handed person he has sometimes
been painted. He was strong, sometimes sharp, but
always thoughtful, tender-hearted, and sympathetic in the
highest degree.

n. The disturbers.

1. Their motive was hatred towards Paul. They
came down from Ephesus full of their experiences of
Paul's troubles there. At Ephesus they had been thwart-
ed. It was not a Jewish city. And even though it was
Gentile, and Paul had attacked Gentile life, yet he had not
been abandoned to injustice. At Ephesus Paul had some
chance of justice, and the Jews were hopeless of thwarting
him. At Jerusalem the tables were turned. There Jewish
sentiment was not only enormously preponderant, it was
also intense beyond words. The opportunity denied at
Ephesus was offered at Jerusalem : at last Paul might be
put out of the way. At last this man, who had made such
an impress on Jews everywhere, who had dared to say
that because a man was a Jew he was not necessarily ac-
ceptable to God, who had testified of a Saviour who had
been condemned by the highest Jewish court and had
been crucified, at last this man had put himself in thair
power, and they were going to end his troublesomeness
once for all.

2. They carried out their purpose by spreading

PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 245

skilful misrepresentations of Paul's position. They said

(a) that he taught all men everywhere against the Jews,

(b) against Jewish law, (c) against the worship of the
temple, and (d) had defiled the temple by introducing
Gentiles into the court of the Israelites (vv. 28, 29). This
charge was a deft combination of truth and falsehood.
For the wickedest lie is not that which is downright, for
that can easily be disproven, but that which is subtly, in-
sinuatingly exaggerative, where the admission of the inno-
cent element of truth which lies at its foundation puts the
man who is repelHng it in the attitude of a culprit. Paul
had not taught against the Jews by any means ; he had
honored them everywhere ; he had proclaimed himself a
Jew. But of course he. had said that being a Jew would
not save one. He had not taught against Jewish law ; he
had honored it in his own conduct. At the same time he
had said that it was not binding on Gentiles. He had not
declaimed against the temple; on the contrary, he had
worshipped in it when at Jerusalem. But he had not held
that it was the only place for acceptably worshipping God.
As for the charge that he introduced Gentiles into the Jew-
ish court of the temple, that was an outright lie, and de-
rived its appearance of truth only from the fact that Paul
had been seen in the city with the Gentile Trophimus.
The things alleged against Paul had back of them some-
thing which he would have had to admit as true. But it
was exaggerated, misinterpreted, and supplemented by an
absolute lie. Nothing more difficult to escape from could
have been devised than this involved, subtle combination
of the true and the false. At this moment in an extraor-
dinary way Paul was having fellowship with the sufferings
of Christ.

3. The strength of the attack against Paul lay in its

246 HINTS AND HELPS.

appeal to the religious feelings of the crowd. That which
was best in them was used for the lowest ends. The holy-
relation of the soul to God was perverted into a means of
venting hatred. Corruptio optimi pessinia. Nothing is
more awful in human nature than the possibility of crime
in the name of religion ; and how frequently it has dark-
ened the page of history. Israel had unholy dances
about the golden calf The Canaanites had their obscene
worship of Ashtoreth* Rome worshipped the emperor,
that the emperor might have full sway for irresponsible
indulgence of every whim and every lust. What a cata-
logue it is, from the burning of the martyrs down to the
pious fraud who gets a living by imposing on the open
sympathy of kind-hearted religious people to-day ! And
some people are so undiscriminating as to lay the blame
of all this upon religion. It is as just to condemn the
real coin for the existence of the counterfeit.
III. The crowd.

1. They accepted as true the lies of the Ephesian Jews.
They had courts whose business it was to investigate such
offences as were alleged against Paul. They had machin-
ery for punishing any one guilty of crime, and if Paul was
not guilty of crime he did not deserve punishment. These
irnplements, intended for the protection of others from
wrong and themselves from guilt through wronging the
innocent, were not for one moment regarded by them.
Without investigation, without so much as a question,
they accepted as true what might easily have been shown
to be false. And it was only through the providence of
God that they were not guilty of murdering Paul as they
had before murdered his Lord.

2. Just as readily they accepted the motives of the
Ephesian Jews as honorable. What sanctity ! What zeal

PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 247

for the temple of the Lord ! Surely these men from Eph-
esus were good representatives of God's own people to
enlighten the Gentiles. And all the time the real motive
of these scheming Ephesians was nothing more than vile,
unscrupulous hatred. The people of Jerusalem might
have gone to the bottom of Paul's case if they had wanted
to ; but they did not want to, because

3. They were already prejudiced against him. The
words of the Ephesians, " This is the man " (v. 28), show
that Paul was known by reputation. The people had their
minds already made up concerning him. They did not
want investigation upon his case. All they wanted was to
have him pointed out. And yet Paul loved them truly as
no other man living probably loved them ; he had a deep
sympathy with their pecuHar ideas ; he was willing to sac-
rifice much for them ; he had in his possession and was
trying to give to them that which would bless them more
than anything else imaginable. Again, as often before,
Jerusalem knew not the day of her visitation. In her sin-
ful prejudice she was ready, consistently with her attitude
all through history, to slay the best of her sons.

IV. The outcome,

I. God was a factor at work upon which the Jews
were not counting. At just the last moment when help
was of use, down came the soldiery of that Roman power
which the Lord used, even while it was unwilling and un-
witting, as one of the great instruments for the accom-
plishment of his purposes in history. " Those whom nei-
ther the majesty of God nor pious respect for the temple
could restrain from madness, respect for a profane man
now subdues." (Calvin.) And in the conduct of that
man the God whom they so impiously disregarded was at
work. Thus far could their madness go and no farther.

248 HINTS AND HELPS.

His word, which can check the mighty ocean, put its re-
straint upon the wrath of men, and Paul, Hke Joseph, Hke
David, Hke Jeremiah, Hke Daniel, was safe.

2. An immediate result for good was brought about,
in that Paul had an opportunity to address the multitude.
Such an opportunity he might have sought long and in
vain. It came to him without his seeking. There, in the
same courts which had resounded with the words of the
Son of God on that day, ^' the great day of the feast,"
Paul now raised his voice, a true echo of that other. On
Mars' HiH, the seat of the world's learning, Paul had tes-
tified to Christ. In the temple at Jerusalem, the world's
religious centre, he was now repeating that testimony.
And the way for it had been opened altogether by God.
The coolness with which Paul not only asked to be allowed
to speak, but went on to make his address, would seem to
show that he felt, even amid the surging of that mad crowd
bent on taking his life, that the Lord was even then gui-
ding him and using him for His glory.

3. The riot in the temple had a bearing far off in the
future. Behind those shouting Jews Paul might have
imagined he could see the dim outlines of the awful throne
of Caesar. At the third world-centre, Rome, in the pres-
ence of the august ruler of the empire, Paul must yet de-
liver his testimony for Christ before his mission would
be ended. The testimony at Rome was made possible
by the riot at Jerusalem. And so the wrath of man min-
istered to the praise of God. The Jews sought to kill
Paul, and they succeeded in giving him opportunity to
hold up the cross before the Lord of the world. How
marvellous are the ways of Him who sitteth even on the
throne of the heavens, making aH things work together
for good to them that love him !

PAUL AT JERUSALEM. 249

V. Final lessofis.

1. Our failures as well as our successes have their
place in God's plan. Paul was trying to conciUate some
of his fellow- Christians when he fell into trouble. He
wanted to commend himself to them ; he only succeeded
in removing himself from all intercourse with them. And
yet what a small thing was that intercourse compared with
the larger intercourse which was opened up through its
failure. God not only exchanges our failures for success,
he makes them means of success.

2. Inferences from others' actions are always danger-
ous. The Jews imputed to Paul motives that did not be-
long to him. They reasoned too quickly from effect to
cause. They were too sure of the accuracy of their own
reasoning ability. Let us be careful how we put mean-
ings into others' conduct. We cannot read their hearts.
We are not the discerners of intention. Judgment be-
longs only to God.

3. A multitude is a dangerous leader. It is good
advice to keep always out of crowds. We should not fol-
low a multitude to do evil, nor should we commit our-
selves to its domination even when it professes to seek
good. Self-possession (like Paul's), personal independ-
ence in full consciousness of personal responsibility, save
us the chagrin and the sorrow which follow the ''stam-
pede." Lieber has shown with the most convincing acute-
ness that Vox populi, vox Dei is unscriptural and irreli-
gious. Beware of the multitude. Serve thou God and
him only.

250 HINTS AND HELPS.

PAUL BEFORE FELIX.

Acts 24:10-25.

Paul makes an address on the steps of the Castle
Antonia to the Jews ; a tumult arises on his mention of
his mission to the Gentiles ; he is taken into the castle by
the governor; he is about to be tortured by scourging
that he may be compelled to give true testimony concern-
ing himself (according to a custom of the time), when the
mention of his being a Roman citizen intervenes; in the
morning a council of the Jews is called by the governor to
find out the cause of the disturbance ; Paul appears before
the council to make his defence ; a new tumult arises and
he is again taken to the castle for safety; the governor
discovers that there is a plot against Paul's life and sends
him by night with a military escort to Caesarea to Felix,
the governor of the province ; five days after the high-
priest, with some elders and TertuUus, a hired orator,
comes down from Jerusalem ; they lodge information be-
fore the governor against Paul ; Fehx calls upon Paul to
speak.

In the passage before us we have an interesting and
impressive picture of Paul. His danger only serves to
bring out his heroic qualities. We have here also a pic-
ture of Fehx — who represents to us the way in which some
men are often affected by the gospel. We turn therefore
from the study of Paul to scrutinize this very fully de-
scribed case of the pathology of conscience.

I. Felix's impression of Paul.

I. Paul's address. He was in serious trouble. There
was no question that his presence in the temple had been

PAUL BEFORE FELIX. 25 1

followed by a tumult. As to the cause of it there were
two sides to be heard. The accusing side had spoken.
Every advantage had been taken of whatever in the cir-
cumstances seemed to be against Paul. A flattering,
speciously honest, downright hostile address had been
made by Tertullus, a professional pleader. It is a mark
of Paul's genius that he was able with superb skill to meet
and to overcome this professional rhetorician. His reply
has in it four heads, (a) Introduction. Tertullus had
begun with flattery. Paul begins with respect. He rec-
ognizes Felix as the authorized representative of the Gov-
ernment under which Providence has placed him; and
while he has no respect for the man and does not hesitate
to tell him so presently, yet he remembers the man's
oflice, and he accepts the position of defendant before him
with dignity. He refers to Felix's somewhat long occu-
pancy of oflice, which would make one feel more secure
of obtaining justice from him than from a novice, and he
suggests that it will be an easy matter for an experienced
administrator like Felix to get at the bottom of the diffi-
culty in which Paul finds himself (b) Rebuttal. He
mentions the brief time he had been in Jerusalem — en-
tirely insufficient to accomplish all the deep plots alleged
against him by the Jews. He denies the charges they
make against him so pointedly that it becomes a question
of veracity between him and them, (c) Explanation.
How had he happened to be in Jerusalem at all, and what
was he doing in the temple ? His conduct remained sus-
picious until it had been adequately explained. Paul says
that, after a new fashion to be sure, but yet really, he is at
one religiously with those who oppose him. He serves
the same God and accepts the same Scriptures. He has
the same hope of a future life, with the resurrection of just

252 HINTS AND HELPS.

and unjust. He has the same purpose which they claim
to have : to have a conscience void of offence towards
God and men always. Accordingly it was not unnatural
for him to come to Jerusalem. The immediate occasion,
however, was his bringing up alms to certain poor people
in the city-^-surely a not unworthy object. In Jerusalem
it was natural for him (after due purification) to have
found his way to the temple, (d) Demand for evidence.
But what about the tumult ? Ah, if only the men who
raised the tumult had been present, if only those Jews
from Ephesus had been brought down to be examined,
Paul might have had as witnesses for him the very men
who had raised this trouble. These men should have
been present. But since that cannot be, let those w^ho are
here tell what they will. Paul is willing to have the truth
come out even from his enemies.

2. The characteristics of this speech probably made
a deeper impression on Felix than its contents, (a) Can-
dor. Paul was evidently telling as plainly, fully, and sim-
ply as he could the very truth. He did not overdo the
matter. He was not so hurried in confessing everything
that one could suspect him of confessing more than was
true. He did not have that eagerness to conciliate which
led Tertullus into a flattery that made it evident he was
going to try to deceive. Paul felt that he was a Roman
citizen standing before a Roman judge who was bound to
do him justice. There was no need of flattery. Due
respect for the office and official experience of the judge
having been expressed, what remained was a simple nar-
rative of facts. An experienced judge is not often de-
ceived as to the honesty of a witness, (b) Fearlessness
was evident in fevery word of Paul's. He was not over-
come by the danger of his situation. He was nothing

PAUL BEFORE FELIX. 253

daunted by the dignity, number, influence, and zeal of his
persecutors. He was not embarrassed by the position of
the man, the friend of emperors, before whom he must
speak. There w^as in him no flippancy, no bravado, but
just that quiet real courage which had made it possible
for him to turn upon the marble steps of the Castle Anto-
nia and make a collected, well-arranged address to the
mob that had been' howling for his Hfe. (c) Uprightness
was written over every word which Paul uttered. The
good man is known not by his rising to combatively
affirm, '^ I am good," but by his saying whatever he will,
ordinary or extraordinary, and giving out his character,
as bad men do also, indirectly and unconsciously. A man
cannot help being and acting himself Let him try ever
so hard to seem to be that which he is not, yet in time
this, like every forgery, will proclaim itself a lie. There
are some witnesses whom lawyers do not dare to permit
to go on the stand to testify. Paul was one who, without
counsel, might say all he would ; for he was a good
man.

3. What was the effect of this speech upon Felix ?
(a) H# recognized that no case had been made out
against Paul. The main witnesses had, for some unac-
countable reason, not been brought into court. Those
who were present were, without disguise, desirous of
PauFs conviction. The prosecution had arranged not for
justice but for punishment. No Roman brought up to
reverence law, and especially experienced as Felix was in
the administration of law, could be deceived by such a
conspiracy to defraud justice. The case against the pris-
oner had plainly not been made out. (b) A postpone-
ment for further inquiry followed. Felix would consult
the commandant at Jerusalem on an approaching visit.

254 HINTS AND HELPS.

But why not discharge the prisoner ? Was a man to be
held guilty until he was proven innocent ? A case had
been brought against Paul and the evidence had not sup-
ported it. It was FeHx's duty to dismiss the prisoner;
but to conciliate the Jews he held him for further investi-
gation. Does this trifling with justice in the interest of
one's own political position remind us of no similar occur-
rence twenty-eight years before this ? At this point Felix
takes the first step of those which have given him, not
unjustly, the name of ''the second Pilate." (c) At the
same time his sense of right, being still feebly operative
(as in Pilate), will not allow him to treat the prisoner as
though he had been convicted of crime. He shows him
some indulgence, relaxing the rigors of prison. Paul was
not to be chained, and his friends were to have full access
to him. So Felix tried to compromise with conscience.
A very difficult feat, as yet unaccomplished, so far as men
are known.

II. Felixes impression of Christianity,

I. He had some curiosity about it, and after certain
days came and sent for Paul and heard him speak about
Jesus Christ. Just how much this meant to Felix^^we do
not know. We must not read too much into the passage.
It may be that Drusilla, his Jewish wife, was the author of
the idea of studying Paul. She was a daughter of Agrip-
pa I. and a sister of Agrippa II. She still adhered to the
Jewish religion although she had married a Roman. ''As
a member of the Herodian family she had unquestionably
heard the Christian religion mentioned on many occa-
sions, and may have been desirous of seeing and hearing
for herself one of the principal representatives of the
church." (Lechler.) FeHx must surely have had some
interest in the matter himself or he would not have accom-

PAUL BEFORE FELIX. 255

panied her on her inquiry. But even a little curiosity is
sometimes enough to lead one to Christ.

2. Paul's speech, (a) The subject. The whole of
Paul's address is not preserved. What is given seems to
imply much that went before, and a final coming to the
practical conclusion, which concerned (i) righteousness,
(2) temperance, and (3) judgment, (i) Righteousness is
the aim of the Christian life. Christ died that he might
purify from us the guilt of sin and impute to us his own
righteousness. He rose from the dead and took his
throne in glory in order that he might send us the* Holy
Spirit, who should ever create new righteousness in us,
directed by Christ. To be holy as God is holy, and so to
glorify him by reflecting his excellence, is the chief end of
man. (2) Temperance, or self-control ; referring to the
subjugation of the passions and the holding of the whole
life in submission to the will of God. This in a certain
sense is the negative side of the righteousness which Paul
has just mentioned. (3) Judgment to come. Christianity
derives its hold upon many men by appealing to high mo-
tives and ambitions. But all do not feel these, all do not
desire to do right and to serve God. To such also Chris-
tianity has its force through its appeal to fear. If a man
will not be led to serve God because he wants to, he may
because he is afraid not to. Fear is not the highest feel-
ing of the heart, but it is common, more common than
higher feelings, and is justly appealed to when truth is not
violated. Christ warned men constantly of the ill-results
of evil-doing. He told only the truth about it, which it
would have been unkind not to tell. Men say now that
they will not be scared into the kingdom of heaven. But
if they are not moved by higher impulses do they deserve
to have the lower also neglected? And men unsaved

256 HINTS AND HELPS.

ought to fear, if they do not. (b) These themes, doubt-
less treated in a general way, had also their personal
application, (i) Righteousness, or justice (as the word
might also have been understood by a Greek), had been
outraged by Fehx in that he had not let Paul go, although
no crime had been proven against him. (2) Temperance,
self-control, or chastity (as the word might have been un-
derstood), had been shamefully violated by Felix. Dru-
silla, the woman who sat beside him, had been given in
marriage to Azizus, king of Emesa. But '' when FeHx
was procurator for Judaea he saw her, and being captiva-
ted by her beauty, persuaded her to desert her husband,
transgress the laws of her country, and marry himself*'
(Josephus.) (3) In view of such a past Felix and Dru-
silla needed, if ever man and woman did need, a faithful,
sharp, kind preacher to tell them of that awful judgment
of God which remained in store for them unless they re-
pented of their deep-dyed sins, (c) Thus Paul was faith-
ful to the truth. It is not faithfulness to truth to speak of
such a part of it (which is no doubt as true as any other
part) as has no bearing on the lives and consciences of
the particular people who hear. Preaching truth is preach-
ing such truth as the hearers ought to have preached to
them. Yet Paul was not offensive. He was personal in
the way he chose his subject, but not in the manner of its
delivery, so far as we can see.

3. No wonder that Felix was convicted by this ad-
dress. No wonder his heart was smitten with fear. He
had been used to association with sycophants, who would
flatter him in the face and stab him in the back. But here
was a man who had no fear of him and sought no favor
of him, who boldly, kindly told him the unvarnished truth
about himself What a privilege to truly know one's self,

PAUL BEFORE FELIX. 257

even if it be to find defects, for that is the way to perfec-
tion. But such an experience is not comfortable. As
Tyndale translates it, " Felix trembled '^ (A. V.). Well
he might have done so, as in the presence of the fearless
servant of God he found himself, guilty and vile, confront-
ed with the awful judgment throne of God. Tacitus says
of him that he used the position of a king with the spirit
of a slave. His spirit now certainly was that of the worst
kind of a slave — the slave of passion.

III. Felix's disposal of Christianity.

1. He let the bad elements in him prevail. Paul
faithfully warned him against them and their consequen-
ces. But he loved the flesh-pots of his degraded Egypt.
Instead of honoring him who had faithfully told him truth,
he kept him in the prison, thinking that some rich friends
might be led to offer bribes on his behalf (v. 26). And
finally, when FeHx went out of office he left Paul still
bound, *' desiring to gain favor with the Jews " (v. 27),
who were about to complain of him (as they complained
of every governor) to the emperor. Whatever awakening
of conscience Felix really felt he subdued again by not
repenting of sin.

2. Consequently he was led to postpone his dealing
with the matter of his relation to God. " Go thy way for
this time ; when I have a convenient season I will call for
thee " (v. 25). Oh deluded, wilHngly deluded Felix !
There is no convenient time but the present. Thou hast
had the day of thy visitation from God, and thy decision
of postponement, although thou dost not guess it, is

3. Final. Why is it that postponing the receiving of
salvation is so apt to be its complete rejection ? Because
(a) it is going back again to the ever increasing domina-
tion of sin ; (b) conscience unanswered becomes deadened

Hints and Helps j y

258 HINTS AND HELPS.

and its voice is more and more feeble ; (c) the desire for
a nobler life awakened in us by the Holy Spirit is subdued
when unsatisfied ; (d) we are not so susceptible to the
presence of the Spirit when we do not obey him. So far
as we know men, they do not mean to be lost. But by
not being willing to be saved in God's day, when the gos-
pel is offered to them, they put themselves in such a posi-
tion that the operation of the common but inexorable laws
of mental and spiritual life makes it more and more cer-
tain that they will never accept Christ.
IV. Lessons.

1. The word of God is sharper than a two-edged
sword. It searches us out. It '' finds '' us (as Coleridge
said).

2. Selfishness is the cause of men's rejection of Christ.
They love their sinful ways too well to deny self and fol-
low him.

3. The great lesson (oh that it might be burned into
the heart of every one who reads !) is that postponing the
acceptance of Christ is eternally dangerous. Suspect
every motive that keeps you from Christ. No such mo-
tive is adequate and justifiable

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA. 259

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA.

Acts 26:19-32.

A CHEMIST who is experimenting with some newly-
discovered element keeps a record showing the various
reactions which occur when this element is brought into
combination with other substances. The book of Acts is
largely a diary of spiritual chemistry : it shows what hap-
pened when the gopel of Jesus Christ was brought into
contact with different classes and conditions of men.
When Paul presented it to Festus and Agrippa it
was received in a peculiar way and had peculiar conse-
quences.

Festus was the new governor who had been sent out
to take the place of the recalled FeHx. Festus (says
Lewin) ^^ had a straightforward honesty about him which
forms a strong contrast to the mean rascality of his pre-
decessor [Felix]. He certainly did not do all the justice
that he might have done ; but allowing somewhat for the
natural desire to ingratiate himself with people of his
government, his conduct on the whole was exemplary,
and his firmness in resisting the unjust demands of the
Jews cannot fail to elicit our admiration." Agrippa was a
different sort of person entirely. He was an effeminate,
debauched, morally dead sort of a person, such as one
can often find on an Oriental throne. He was a king who
retained his office in dependence upon the Roman procu-
rator (compare the relation of the rajahs of India and the
English governor-general). Bernice, the beautiful profli-
gate who accompanied him on his congratulatory visit to
Festus at Caesarea, having tired of three husbands, was

26o HINTS AND HELPS.

now living (as Josephus tells us .the common belief was)
in shameful relations with Agrippa, who was her own
brother. '' Her subsequent connection with Vespasian
and Titus made her name familiar to the Roman writers.
Several of them, as Tacitus, Suetonius, and Juvenal, either
mention her expressly or allude to her." (Hackett.)

This was an unpromising audience for the preaching
of the gospel of Christ. But Paul beheved that gospel
was meant for great as well as small (v. 22), for profligate
as well as virtuous, for the whole sinful world. He
accepted the duty that lay before him, and, in spite of
interruption and sneering contempt, delivered his message
concerning the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

I. The character of the address.

Paul now, as often before and after, told in a simple,
straightforward way the story of his own life. There is
no evidence for Christ more convincing than that of
Christian experience. Better than to argue and expound
the philosophy of salvation was it for Paul to tell how he,
a Jew of a most violent sort, became a humble follower of
Jesus Christ ; and there is no evidence to-day coming
down to us out of that early age more powerful than this
same story of Paul recorded in Scripture. Remembering
Paul's mind, his genius, his predisposition against Chris-
tianity, his becoming a Christian demands explanation.
It is no wonder that the skeptical Baur, who thought
himself able to explain away all the supernatural in the
New Testament, when he came to the conversion of Paul
felt compelled to accept it as miraculous. Christianity
does not stand or fall with Paul; it is greater than any
man who ever accepted it. But how much we should
have missed of corroboration to our faith if we did not
have the story of the journey to Damascus.

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA. 261

I. God and man worked together in Paul's Christian
Hfe (v. 19).

a. There was first the heavenly vision vouchsafed to
Paul for his spiritual enlightenment and guidance. His
conversion was wrought from without. He had not been
yearning for Christy but had been opposing him, when
God came upon the scene and changed things miraculous-
ly. And nothing short of a supernatural experience could
have wrought the alteration that appeared in Saul of
Tarsus. God can do wonders when he will. The hard-
est and most impenetrably stony heart becomes the warm
heart of living flesh under his converting touch. And
God must work wonders if men are to be converted
to him ; for even the most eager soul cannot make itself
new. God is the only Creator in the spiritual as in the
natural realm. And he is ever ready to do his work.
He gives us all visions, not miraculous like Paul's, but
truly supernatural. He shows us heavenly things and
calls us towards them.

b. Paul's conversion was brought about only when
he had submitted to the vision. He was not disobedient
unto it (v. 19). '' Not even Paul's conversion was irre-
sistible" (Bengel). That is to say, it was not accom-
plished without the action of his own will. God works in
us wonders, both to will and to do — not against the will, but
in the will, penetrating as it were inside of it. Our change
from glory into glory is thus by the consent of our will
ever to God's. So God entreats us ever to come and
obey him, and if we are not his in Christ, it is because we
will not be. The heavenly vision is freely given, but we
must not be disobedient unto it.

2. Paul's mission. He was called for a divine pur-
pose. He had a work to do. This he recognized himself

2(>2 HINTS AND HELPS.

at the very time when he had the vision, for his first
words were, '^ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?'^

a. His mission was to declare far and wide, to both
Jew and Gentile, ''that they should repent and turn to
God, doing works worthy of repentance " (v. 20). He
was to be a teacher to lead men to God* The ethical
contents of his message were repentance and righteous-
ness. He was to help men to better living. He was to
take his place alongside the prophets of the Old Testa-
ment times, alongside Jesus Christ who was the personal
fulfilment of their prophecies, who elevated and broad-
ened their ethical ideas. '' Be good,'* was the gist of his
dehverance, as of every other preacher's in all the world.

b. But Christ's atonement, although it is not men-
tioned here, is presupposed as the ground of this ethical
teaching (see vv. 18 and 23). Picturing the glories of a
noble life, howsoever temptingly it may be done, is not
enough, as Paul knew well by his own experience, to lead
one to moral excellence. Man's sufficiency is in God
alone. And God's chosen way of bestowing it on men is
only through their faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ.
The Christian is ever pointed to a vision of holiness
towards which he must courageously and unremittingly
aspire. But back behind that vision there is always,
sometimes brightly, sometimes dimly, but always to be
discerned, the cross. In that is his hope of some day
having realized in himself the vision of which it is the
background.

3. Paul's persistence in his calling. That Christ was
helping him so that he could do all things did not make
it any the less necessary for him to fight a good fight
himself For God works not without man.

a. Opposition arose to Paul's accomplishment of his

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA. 263

mission (v. 21). That God was empowering him meant
not (as we often wish it might mean for us) the removal
of obstacles, but their conquest. The Christian life is a
triumph, not by escape from opposition, but by the sur-
mounting of developed opposition in order to victory.
The projection of Christianity into a heretofore unchris-
tianized community ought to have antagonism for its re-
action as certainly as litmus paper is discolored by the
touch of acid.

b. Paul obtained '* the help that is from God '' (v. 22,
R. V.) His mission came to him without his own selec-
tion, and the power to accomplish it was also other than
his own. It would have been a hard situation indeed if
Paul had been given a superhuman mission which he must
fulfil with merely human power. God is not so unjust
With our calling he gives us his own help. He tells us
to go, and equips us for going. How thoroughly are we
without excuse if we do not accomplish his will.

c. Paul stood unharmed as a result of this divine
empowerment (v. 22). He had been in dangers, great
dangers, such as no man we have ever known encoun-
tered; but he had been safe through them all. The
powers against him could not bring his life to an end
until God's hour had come, and when that had come
Paul was willing to die.

d. Testifying, testifying ever, was the work of his
life (v. 22). Talk seems the most unsubstantial part of a
man's life-product. But long after the tents Paul made
had rotted into tatters his words lived in the hearts and
lives of his fellow-men. The unsubstantial product which
we put forth with the lips is that which is most abiding of
all that we create. And so it is not strange that the fool-
ishness of preaching, the impinging of ethereal sounds

264 HINTS AND HELPS.

upon the ear, should after all be the most powerful and
lasting of human forces.

e. Paul was impartial in his life-w^ork (v. 22). He
testified both to small and great. All men were men to
him, and he might have had for his motto, '' Homo sum, et
nihil humani a m.e alienum putoT Nationality, age,
social position, wealth, learning made no difference to
Paul. '' A man 's a man for a' that." He gave the gos-
pel to every one, for every one needed it.

4. The contents of his preaching concerning Christ
are given. He preached

a. A suffering Christ. Christ was the prophet by
eminence. There had been other prophets before him.
Was he but primus inter pares f No, he had suffered.
But other prophets had suffered too, and for others beside
themselves. Yes, but Christ had suffered the very penalty
of others' sins, entering into the place where they should
have stood. He was thus the only Saviour. He did not
die as the result of the machinations of foes, as a mere his- *
torical happening (though they were the occasion of his
death) ; nor as a martyr to truth alone (though he was
that) ; but in our stead, purposing to bear our sins. This
was a stumbling-block to Jews, who could not believe the
Messiah could die, and foolishness to the Greeks, who
could not adjust a vicarious atonement to the articulations
of their philosophies ; and for ever the " how '' of this sub-
stitutionary suffering is hid from the mind of man. Nev-
ertheless it is true, and is witnessed to be true in that it
is the very power of God unto salvation ; Christ crucified,
the laughing-stock of history, is history's only hope.

b. A rising Christ (v. 23). Here again we meet with
something which seems to antagonize all modern ways of
thinking, as it antagonized all those that were ancient.

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA. 265

The immortality of the soul is a widely accepted belief
even among the heathen. But the resurrection of the
body is difficult even to heathen credulity. Neverthe-
less it is true, and a necessary part of the contents of
Christian preaching. If Christ be not raised then is our
faith vain. .The resurrection was a necessary part of
Christ's saving work. Without that salvation would not
have been complete. The word ''first" in Paul's expres-
sion is an adjective, not an adverb. '' This word desig-
nates the cause rather than the order of time ; because
Christ rising again emerged victor of death and lord of
life, that he might reign for ever and make his own to be
sharers in his own blest immortality." (Calvin.) Christ
arose, not as the first instance (see Matt. 27 : 53), but as
the author of resurrection.

c. A world-enljghtening Christ (v. 23). He called
himself the light of the world, and those who were his
disciples the same, because what he was they were to be
in the world. And what was the character of Christ's
enlightenment? The bringing of salvation into the
world's night of sin. The emphatic point in Paul's
expression is '' both to the people and to the Gentiles."
This was a new idea, impossible as it seems to us now
that any other should ever have been held. Paul stood
for it consistently all his life. He was the apostle of the
Gentiles. The gospel is just as much meant for those
who we think would not appreciate it— the worst crimi-
nals in the slums, the stupidest heathen, the most self-reli-
ant skeptics — as for the most devout and eager souls.

II. The receptioji of Paul's address,

I. Festus. He interrupted Paul with a loud voice.
The resurrection was a piece of nonsense of which he did
not care to hear any more.

266 HINTS AND HELPS.

a. He did not believe what Paul was saying. He
considered it madness, irrationality (v. 24). He looked
upon Paul as one of those speculative oddities (not un-
common in that speculative age) who took hold of some
fantastic notion and dreamed of it until they imagined it
truth. He had supposed from Paul's bearing that he was
a strong, hard-headed thinker. He founcl out (as he
thought) that he was only a bewildered mystic. A Ro-
man wanted facts. Paul was giving him fancies. He
had had enough of it. So easily do we men imagine that
our minds are the measure of truth !

b. He had contempt for Paul. His expression de-
notes it. With the pride of his nation he looked down on
whosoever differed with him. " What I think is not only
true, but honorable and attractive ; what others think,
who do not agree with me, is not only untrue but silly."
Oh, wise Festus ! This that is before thee in this chained
prisoner shall yet put the wisdom of this world to scorn,
showing itself to be the eternal wisdom of God.

c. Paul's reply. Without resenting the scorn in
Festus' interruption, Paul quietly and courteously defends
himself Far from being mad, he is speaking in full so-
briety (as is witnessed by his self-possession under this
contemptuous and trying interruption), and with full dis-
cernment that what he says is the very truth. The reply,
brief in its contents, but pointed and impressive in its
manner, was Paul's final attempt to get hold of a heart
that had plainly been untouched by the story of his life.

2. Agrippa. From the uninfluenced Festus Paul
turned to the dissolute king, who underneath his wicked-
ness still had something which had been touched by
Paul's proclamation of Christ.

a. Agrippa was merely a curious spectator of Paul,

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA. 267

but as he sat there he was unwilHngly being tried by the
great touchstone of life — the gospel of Jesus Christ then
and there offered to him. Agrippa, we may be sure, had
not wanted to know the truth, nor had he desired to have
God try his soul as he was trying it then. But God seeks
us when we do not seek him. And whether we will or
not, the gospel is the criterion by the presentation of which
every soul is saved or lost.

b. Agrippa had some knowledge of Christ (v. 26).
It may have been superficial, and yet it carried responsi-
bility with it. Paul appealed to it. It had in it the be-
ginnings of salvation for a wilHng heart. As God looks
down upon us he seems to be asking, '' Do you know
anything about Christ ?" All of us can say, '' Yes, some-
what." Then God seems to say, " For that knowledge,
little or great, you are responsible ; for it has in it the
power of salvation."

c. Agrippa was evidently influenced by his compan-
ions. His manner was plainly not that of an independent,
fearless man. After the interruption of Festus, which
showed his opinion of Paul, Agrippa certainly would not
admit that Paul's words meant anything to him. As to so
many others, to him man meant more than God.

d. He gives an ironical retort, as much as to say,
*' Ah ! you are trying your rapid method of making
Christians on me, are you ! Before I know it, I suppose,
you will have me converted." He patterns his reply in
accordance with the spirit of Festus' interruption, adding

, flippancy to scorn.

e. His real feeling was concealed. How much he felt
under the pressure of Paul's personal appeal we cannot
judge. But he felt something. God's call was at last
heard and recognized. But it was not obeyed.

268 HINTS AND HELPS.

f. Paul's reply. As he met the hard, unbelieving
Festus with a simple protest of his own truthfulness, so he
met the unwillingly moved Agrippa with a sober and in-
finitely touching prayer. With both men he left behind
a seed, which might perhaps spring and blossom unto
eternal life.

III. General lessons.

1. There are voices of God everywhere. No soul but
hears them. Are we obedient unto them ?

2. Christ is the centre of Christian truth and life and
work. From him should come our thoughts, our emo-
tions, and our deeds. Let Hfe be to us Christ.

3. The heart of man is desperately wicked. Who
could resist Paul's preaching ? Festus and Agrippa did.
It is possible to resist the preaching of the Spirit of God.

PAUL SHIPWRECKED. 269

PAUL SHIPWRECKED.

Acts 27:20-44.

There is something very impressive in the even,
consistent solidity of Paul's Christian life. With many,
perhaps most men, there are times when the sudden en-
trance of a stranger upon their actions and thoughts would
not be entirely helpful to their Christian name. But come
upon Paul at any time and under any circumstances, and
you find him always the same earnest and yet completely
self-possessed servant of Jesus Christ. In a very true
way for him to live was Christ. He had no purposes of
which Christ was not the goal. He felt no joys of which
Christ was not the chief cause.

If there is anything which will make a man thought-
ful of himself above everything else it is danger of losing
his life.

" Whatever crazy sorrow saith.
No soul that liveth longs for death."

Set before a man the probability that in a short time he
will be dead, and his thoughts will most likely be divided
between terror and a desperate planning of escape. Es-
pecially will it try his soul if those circumstances be lack-
ing which conduce to heroism, if the manner of exit from
life which presents itself seems wholly wasteful — as by
a shipwreck. When a man dies for his country there
seems a degree of compensation to himself as well as
others ; but when a man dies by accident it seems a sad
dissipation of vital energy. How did Paul act under such
circumstances ? He gives to us a truly heroic picture of
an unselfish ma?i in a selfish world.

2JQ HINTS AND HELPS.

Let us see first how Paul's companions behaved under
the stress of the immediate probabiHty of death.

I. The selfishness of PauVs companions.

I. The sailors. They were men accustomed to the
sea, best able of all on board to take care of themselves in
the event of the ship's going to pieces, charged moreover
with the care of the lives with them.

a. Their overwhelming desire was to save themselves.
'* They were seeking to fall out of the ship " regardless of
consequences. Life is dear to every man. It is unnatural
to think anything else. But to a moral and spiritual
being it is conceivable that there may be things dearer
than life. Witness the martyrs, the men who have died
on the battle-fields of the world, the humble workers who
have stood by their posts that others might save what
they lost. We do not blame the sailors for wanting to
escape — Paul wanted to escape probably as much as they
did. But they are justly blamable for having no other
pressing desire in their hearts than just to keep them-
selves alive. They were cowards of the most abject and
truly heathenish sort.

b. They forgot others. There were the soldiers and
the prisoners in their charge. Life was just as precious
to them as to the sailors themselves. But, like all selfish
people, these saw things only from their point of view.
They looked upon the world as an arena where men fight
against one another like wild animals. They believed in
the struggle for existence. Brotherhood meant nothing
to them. So they schemed to take the one boat, in which
there seemed any hope of safety, and let the rest ol the
people on board take care of themselves. When one is
enamored of his own self, and fancies that the most im-
portant thing is to keep himself alive, he becomes capable

PAUL SHIPWRECKED. 2/1

of selling his mother and wife and children to keep his
own life. Just as though living were all there is to life.

c. The sailors abandoned their duty. They were
guardians of the ship and all in it — especially the passen-
gers. These had been put into their hands to take care
of and to guard and to bring safely to land. But duty
seems to have meant nothing to their minds. They were
looking only towards self; duty looks away from self
Its essence is obligation, and that implies at least two
persons. They were not trying to do right — they made
no inquiry concerning it. They were trying to do only
that which was pleasant for themselves. Let us be grate-
ful to God that he has so constituted this world that those
who live only with such selfish purposes are destined to
be cheated of their gratification.

2. The soldiers. They had already made a decision
to kill the prisoners whom they were guarding ''lest any
of them should swim out and escape " (v. 42). They as
well as the sailors showed themselves to be directed only
by selfish motives.

a. They were going to commit a horrible crime be-
cause of a danger to themselves which was only as yet
hypothetical. Roman jailers and guards were kept honest
by being made responsible for their prisoners — life for
life. The jailer at PhiHppi was agitated when he found
the prison doors open, because he knew that the Roman
law required that he should surrender his own life in their
stead. The same penalty hung over the soldiers who
in Paul's ship were escorting prisoners to Rome. Their
own lives were at stake in the matter. But they had no
right to murder these men whom they were guarding on
the mere hypothesis that if they did not do so they would
suffer the death penalty themselves; for the ship was

2/2 HINTS AND HELPS.

not yet wrecked, some of the prisoners might be drowned
if it were wrecked, if any did survive they probably
would not have been able to escape. Yet with all these
chances of murder being unnecessary, the soldiers had no
hesitation in settling upon it.

b. Their selfishness was not hindered by the brutal-
ity of their plan. The prisoners were helpless, some of
them might be innocent (as Paul was found to be after-
ward), they were trusting in the fidelity of the soldiers.
Yet the soldiers had decided to slay them, as though they
were so many burdensome cattle. To be sure the habits
of those old times were more brutal than ours, for Chris-
tianity has had nineteen hundred years in which to tem-
per the barbarism of Roman civilization. Yet human
hearts were the same then as now ; and if these Roman
soldiers had not been thinking of saving themselves from
danger above everything else, their brutality would not
have been so utterly inhuman.

c. They were ungrateful, as selfish people always are.
For gratitude implies obligation, and that has no meaning
to those who recognize no other beings as in existence
except themselves. Paul had saved the lives of the soldiers
(thus far at least) by preventing the abandonment of the
ship by the sailors. The soldiers could not have managed
it, and wreck would have been certain but for Paul's dis-
covery of the attempt of the sailors to run away. Beside
that, the soldiers as well as all others in the ship were
indebted to Paul for his encouragement (v. 34), which had
led them to bestir themselves to take such measures as
relieved the ship (v. 38). But the soldiers cared nothing
for these things. They were as ready to put Paul to
death as though he had been a most hateful enemy, in-
stead of one who, cumbered as he was, and threatened

PAUL SHIPWRECKED. 2/3

with the same dangers which threatened them, had still
done them good. Gratitude played no part in their
thinking.

d. Danger hardened them, as it did the sailors.
Confronting death, one ought to have the most unselfish,
pure, and noble feelings possible. All that is best in the
heart ought then to be stirring. Yet how often the exact
converse is true — that danger makes men forgetful of all
but selfish interests, turns them into cowards, and bru-
talizes them. Every one of us has known of people
who were well thought of until some moment of danger
showed how utterly selfish and base they were. And
such a revelation is not unfair. It shows the true man,
who in more quiet ways has all along been indulging
those same evil traits which the crisis of danger has only
made plain. Crises come to us all in various ways. If
we do not wish them to reveal what we most intensely
desire to be concealed, in this quiet time before the test
comes we must be eliminating those unlovely elements
from our hearts.

II. We turn now to the beautiful and noble story of
the unselfishness of Paul, The very same circumstances
outwardly were at work upon him as upon the soldiers
and sailors. The same thing revealed shame in them
and glory in him. It is not circumstances that are
responsible for the way in which we stand exposed before
the eyes of men, but the state of our hearts.

I. The way in which Paul's unselfishness was exhib-
ited.

a. In devotion to others rather than to himself
They thought only of their danger, and he thought only
of them. He kept the sailors in the ship and so held fast
to any possible chance of guidance into safety. He no-

Hints and Helps jg'

274 HINTS AND HELPS.

ticed the weakness of the ship's company through hunger,
and led them to eat. He cheered them up by teUing
them that no one should be lost. This meant something
to them, even if they thought he was only guessing ; for
'* they were all of good cheer" in consequence. Paul
was always thoughtful for others, even if they were stran-
gers to him, even if they were his enemies. In this he
was like his Lord who prayed, " Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do." If one would be a
true Christian he must deny self The positive side of
this is thinking for others.

b. Paul's unselfishness was shown in practical ways.
It was not Utopian, fanciful, subtly reactive upon self.
For sometimes one is unselfish on a low level only to in-
dulge selfish feelings of a high sort. But that is selfish-
ness just the same. Paul's helpfulness was very down-
right and business-like. He caught the sailors trying to
escape in the one boat the ship possessed, under the plea
that they " would lay out anchors from the foreship." He
said nothing to the officers of the ship (who were doubt-
less in combination with the sailors or else inefficient and
powerless), but appealed to the soldiers, who would have
most to lose if the plan of the sailors succeeded (v. 31).
The soldiers cast the boat adrift — a satisfactory if radical
way of dealing with the difficulty. Again, Paul remem-
bered the prosaic but real value of food even in the midst
of infinitely more important matters. This lowly sugges-
tion had in it good sense. It relieved the tense thoughts
of these danger-harassed souls. Paul combined in himself
the highest emotional idealism with the most business-
like common-sense. His unselfishness was not dramatic
and spectacular, but practical, and therefore successful.
Being unselfish is not romantic, but prosaic and some-

PAUL SHIPWRECKED. 2/5

times hard. It is for this reason all the more difficult
to live out.

c. Paul encouraged those about him. He ate his
bread as quietly as though there were no danger at all
threatening, not forgetting his usual habit of thanking
God for it (v. 35). His example had a good effect. They
all ate. They all caught something of his confidence
(even though they could give no reason for it) and they
were all of good cheer. A cheerful habit of thinking and
acting in ourselves means more to others than any argu-
ments we can offer. A cheerful heart makes others
cheerful. And there is more unselfishness in being cheer-
ful sometimes than is guessed.

d. These traits of Paul's unselfishness were brought
out by danger. Notice that it was the same danger which
brought out only selfishness in soldier and sailor. Again
we are reminded that events do not give us our charac-
ter, they only reveal it ; and it is the same whether those
events be pleasant or unpleasant Give a selfish man the
good things he asks, and it only makes him more selfish.
Take away from an unselfish man the comforts and joys
of life, and it only shows the more brightly that same
generosity which made him share comforts and joys when
he had them. Either kind of fortune, good or bad, serves
to bring out what is in us. But misfortune (such as Paul's
danger) brings it out most plainly. Therefore, if we are
what we ought to be, it ought to be counted joy when we
fall into divers temptations.

2. The cause of Paul's unselfishness as thus exhibited.

a. He had faith in God. This worked either way for
him, whether he lived or died ; God's will in any case
would be accomplished, and that was enough for him.
But in this particular case he seems to have had an intima-

2/6 HINTS AND HELPS.

tion that all on the ship would be saved. And he had
faith in God's word to him, however hard of accomplish-
ment it seemed. The waves and the winds now as ever
were held in the hollow of the Almighty's hand. Hence
it was that he had self-possession enough to think quietly
of others' needs and to devise means to answer them.
How can a man who is without faith in God be anything
but selfish ? and how can one who trusts in the Father of
loving-kindness be anything but unselfish ^

b. The cause of the way in which Paul's unselfishness
showed itself was that in him grace and common-sense
worked together. He was not a dreamer (though he had
his visions) : he was a most practical sort of man. And
if he had supernatural revelations and empowerments,
these did not crush out all that was natural in him, but
elevated and supplemented it. Paul used his supernatural
endowments as though they were natural. So his unself-
ishness worked along on every-day levels and was truly
efficient.

3. The result of his unselfishness.

a. Bad men were thwarted in their evil designs. The
selfish sailors were not permitted to abandon the ship ;
the selfish soldiers were not permitted to murder their
prisoners. Both were due to Paul's unselfishness. The
former, because Paul directly prevented it ; the latter,
because Paul's unselfishness had made an impression upon
the centurion so that he interfered (v. 43). It is a part of
the result of a good man's good Hfe that it prevents sin as
well as encourages to righteousness.

b. Paul himself was saved. He was not thinking of
this chiefly. His care was for others, and he was taken
care of himself God always keeps watch of those who
are doing his will. He does not let them suffer unless it

PAUL SHIPWRECKED. 277

be for some end involved in his plan. He does not let
danger overwhelm them unless it be for some deliberate
purpose. He takes care of those who take care of others.
He loves and guards unselfish souls.

c. The whole ship's company were saved (v. 44).
Paul's foresight in keeping the crew on board had made
such steps possible (v. 40) as led to the stranding of the
ship with the least possible danger. God was then (as
generally) working through human agencies. And so it
is not to deny God's work to say that Paul's unselfishness
saved the ship. He had not exerted it so unstintedly for
nothing ; it had its good results. As Paul looked over
the company gathered in safety on the shore, he must
have thanked God for that faith which had been the
ground of his confidence in escape from danger, and
which, by making him forget himself, had made him able
to bring blessing to so many. We may parody a famous
proverb and say that nothing succeeds like unselfishness.

ni. Final lessons,

1. Faith in God should be the most vigorous element
in our emotional being. It is the centre of all the Chris-
tian's life. On it rests his eternal salvation. On it rests
his conduct of every day.

2. Let us believe in our safety from accident We
are perfectly safe until God's time for us to die has come.
And then we should be unwilling to live.

3. Life is best spent in helping others. A self-cen-
tred soul becomes uncentred. We become what is best
by giving out of that which is best in us. The way of
the cross, which is the way of supreme success, is the way
of giving up.

2/8 HINTS AND HELPS.

PAUL AT ROME.

Acts 28:20-31.

We have seen Paul at Athens, the centre of the
world's philosophical life, preaching without any great
success the unsearchable wisdom of God in Jesus Christ.
We have seen him at Jerusalem, the centre of the world's
religious life, proclaiming, under the stress of violent
antagonism, the true God's revelation of himself. Now
we see him at Rome, the centre of the world's political
life, telling, with small success still, of that kingdom whose
foundations are infinitely more substantial than the seven
hills which upheld Rome the eternal. Representatively
Paul had thus preached Christ and him crucified to the
whole world.

How striking the very thought of Paul at Rome!
We remember her splendor, her power, her self-satisfac-
tion. We stand by the Appian Way (as a great painter has
helped us to do) and gaze upon the indolent, bejewelled,
debased throng of nobles and slaves hurrying by, and we
think how little they knew of the presence, somewhere
obscurely in the vast multitude, of that ''little wizened
Jew " who brought with him thither the news of the glo-
rious gospel of the blessed God, who was the sign that
the day of heavenly visitation had come to Rome. To-
day there is joy for us in the thought that Paul's name is
written not only all over Rome, but all over the civilized
world, while the names of those dissolute and proud men
are all forgotten. We exult in history's vindication of the
feeble. We think of the triumphant Paul. But what
would we have thought of him if we had seen him as he

PAUL AT ROME. 279

was in Rome, without any of this historical glorification
as yet visible ? It is so diificult for us to fully compre-
hend that the gospel's power is wholly spiritual, that it is
not effective because of the solidity and grandeur of the
church of to-day, or the impressiveness of the historic
names connected with it, or the eloquence and mental
power of its great advocates, but solely because of its
heavenliness, that we can hardly be surprised that Rome
did not discover that anything had happened when Paul
came within the walls.

One might dream at great length along such lines,
and perhaps to advantage ; but the prosaic but real details
of what occurred at Rome in Paul's visit are before us for
our study.

I. We see VsmI preparing the ground ior his work.

1. He began, in his last efforts as in his first, with the
Jews. He was one of them and understood them. They
were at least part way to Christianity because they be-
lieved in the true God. They were God's chosen people,
and it was fitting that, in the order of time, the gospel
should be offered to them first. What a tremendous bur-
den of responsibility rests upon that ancient people for
their attitude towards God and his Christ ! If opportu-
nity of knowing could secure it, they ought to be the very
leaders of those who are carrying God's truth throughout
the world. But in their case, as in every man's, oppor-
tunity does not settle destiny, but rather the action of
man's will upon opportunity.

2. Conciliation characterized Paul's approach to his
own nation. He did not know what rumors concerning
him might have come across the sea, so he felt it neces-
sary to begin with a personal explanation and defence.
Paul was not a scheming sophist who used a shrewd tact

280 HINTS AND HELPS.

wherever he went simply to gain a hearing, conceahng
his antecedents and real character. Candor was the very
soul of his being. He was skilful in dealing with men,
and yet open, even at the risk of life. He was concilia-
tory towards the Jews everywhere, because he truly felt
that they and he had very much permanently in common.
He loved them passionately, it is not too much to say.
His manner of address to the Jews in Rome was not that
of a hired preacher, but that of a misunderstood friend.

3. Prejudice at once confronted him. They proba-
bly told the truth when they said they had had no com-
munication concerning Paul with the men of Judaea (v. 21).
But they knew more probably than they said concerning
Christianity. There was a Christian church in Rome of
some years' standing. That they had no relations with it
shows they were hostile to it. The sneering generality
concerning Christianity's ill-repute was more definite in
their minds than they cared to have Paul guess. Why
should they be so careful in concealing their strong hos-
tility to Christ from Paul, and in conciliating him by their
attendance upon his address ? It is likely, as Hackett
suggests, that at this time, when their relations with the
Roman Government were critical, they felt it necessary to
avoid any disturbance among themselves, lest they should
again get into trouble by being accused of turbulence.
Paul was appealing to the emperor from some action of
their countrymen at home. It was better that his hostil-
ity should be diminished as much as possible before he
brought his charges before the throne. Thus their mild-
ness and willingness to listen are explained. But as
Meyer says, '' However cautious and officially reserved
they are, the Jewish contempt of Christianity may be
plainly seen."

PAUL AT ROME. 28 1

4. Hardness of heart is thus brought to view again
as the condition of the Jews before the preaching of Paul.
The reason they were not all turned to Christ, advancing
from that midway position which they held between no
truth and all truth, was not because of any lack in oppor-
tunity or cogency of motive to take the step, but solely
because they would not. Their hearts were hearts of
stone.

II. The first meeting, which Paul had thus tried to
use to prepare the way pleasantly for a plain Christian
talk, was followed by a second, which Paul used for the
presentation of the gospel,

I. His doctrine \^ set before them in unmistakable
form. He wishes to conciliate them, but he must tell
them the plain truth, (a) The kingdom of God is the
subject of his testimony. Paul is accused by rationalistic
historical reconstructionists (like Pfleiderer) of being the
author of *' Paulinism," a system of doctrine intended to
be supplementary to Christ's teaching, but which really is
antagonistic to it. How little real foundation for such a
fancy there is, is evident from the theme of Paul's address
in Rome. What was it ? The very thing which (accord-
ing to the synoptists) formed the substance of all of Christ's
teaching, namely, the kingdom of God. Christ taught
about the characteristics of those who belonged to this
kingdom, the features of the kingdom itself (spirituality,
everlastingness, etc.), the rewards and punishments con-
nected with it, and the way into it. His parables were
parables of the kingdom, his miracles were miracles of the
kingdom. It is astonishing how much this is overlooked
in Christian teaching and preaching to-day. The theme
which was oftenest upon the lips of Jesus is seldom upon
ours. But it is something that this oversight and failure in

282 HINTS AND HELPS.

appreciation is being brought to our notice by books bear-
ing upon the kingdom of God, by articles in the press, and
by addresses. If the relative emphases in the teaching of
Christ are models of how our emphases ought to be ar-
ranged, then the kingdom of God should be the chief sub-
ject of our thought, (b) Jesus was set forth as the centre
of this kingdom in Paul's address (v. 23). To understand
it is to understand him, and vice versa, Christ is inter-
preted to us by our study of the meaning of the kingdom
of God. And we understand it as we comprehend more
and more the meaning of his person, character, and life.
But to understand is not an end but a means to an end.
The end of thinking concerning the kingdom and the
King is to lead us into it and under his dominion. Not to
understand about the kingdom, but to be in it, and to
abide in it for ever, is the end of preaching, (c) The
Scriptures formed the foundation of Paul's argument with
these Jews (v. 23). With Greeks Paul did not use the
Scriptures, because the days had not yet come when the
value of books and the truths contained in them was seen
not to be confined to the people in whose tongue they
were written. We know now that if there is truth any-
where it concerns us to find it out. The Hebrew Bible
has meaning to us, and the argument from prophecy
(much neglected) ought to have meaning to us. This
could not be expected in Greek or Roman, both of whom
believed that truth was parcelled out somehow linguistic-
ally. But to a Jew naturally the argument from prophecy
was powerful. And it was meant to be so plainly by the
Scriptures themselves. Why not also to us? Why
should not the argument for Christ have cogency to-day
to minds of modern temper ? We have not generally pen-
etrated into the meaning of Christ's fulfilment of prophecy

PAUL AT ROME. 283

which Hes back of temporal correspondence. Prophecy-
is more than foretelUng. The man who would make the
argument from prophecy universally cogent (as it is cogent
to a Jew) would do us a service.

2. The reception of Paul's address is chronicled (vv.
23, 24). (a) There was interest evidently, for they stayed
to listen '' from morning to evening." The motive which
induced them to come may have been far from religious,
as we have seen, but once they were there listening to one
so well versed in their own national lore, so powerful in
using it argumentatively for Jesus Christ, they were held
to hear longer very likely than they would have desired.
Often those who come to scoff have gone away to pray.
The spiritually dead man goes to some Salvation Army
meeting perhaps to gratify curiosity, and finds himself
departing soberly with a ringing conscience. (b) The
gospel now as always acted in two ways — it was a savor
of life or a savor of death. '' Some beHeved the things
which were spoken, and some disbelieved " (v. 24). The
magnet draws or it does not draw. There is no third
possibility. Everywhere, as the gospel moves around the
world, it is the touchstone of human hearts, affecting them
always in one of two ways. That is what God has meant
it to do, and what it does, even for those who try to stand
on some middle ground of non-committal. ^' Ye cannot
serve God and mammon.^'

3. Paul's warning (vv. 26, 27). They all departed.
The gospel had not conquered them as a company,
though some believed. Paul makes one more attempt to
r'each them as they go, using the words of their well-
known Scriptures. (a) These were words for them to
remember. They were of such a striking and paradoxical
character that attention would be drawn to them even in

284 HINTS AND HELPS.

a casual reader. They were supposed to be wholly inap-
plicable to the Jews. So these Jews, hearing them uttered
by Paul as his closing message to them, would be piqued
into asking, ''Why did he use these words, meant for
Gentiles, with reference to us?'* Perhaps their curiosity
might be sufficiently excited to lead them to the truth.
(b) These were harsh words. Paul had reasoned quietly
and in a conciliatory way, without success, humanly speak-
ing. Severity remained to him and he emjployed it. Yet
it was not the severity of personal disappointment or
anger, but the loving severity of God to his own people.
Paul seems to say to them in effect, " You believe in proph-
ecy. Here is a prophecy which I leave with you urging
you to find out the meaning.'* Then he repeats the
famous passage concerning God's judicial blinding of the
hearts of his people as a punishment for their wilful
self-blinding towards him. These words of judgment
were uttered before the judgment fell, to deter the people,
if possible, from making it necessary. Harsh as they
were, they were really beneficent. So Paul wished they
might be to his Jewish auditors. It is no kindness to
withhold from men the knowledge of the penalty of unbe-
hef. (c) Paul warns the Jews that God will pass them by
and give his salvation to the Gentiles if they do not accept
it (v. 29). The meaning is not that God would save only
one or the other, but not both. God meant to save Jews
first, and then Gentiles through the Jews. But if the Jews
refused, then he would save the Gentiles directly, and they
would have the honor (which belonged to the Jews) of
being the immediate recipients in history of the divine
revelation of salvation. And then, the tables being com-
pletely turned, the Gentiles should bring the news of sal-
vation to the Jews. (See Rom. 11 : 23, 25, 26.) Paul's

PAUL AT ROME. 285

warning to the Jews is that by not receiving Christ then,
when they did receive him as a nation it would be, so to
say, at second hand. Thus they would have lost the great
privilege kept for them in history by God. And back of
this warning also lay the deeper individualistic warning
that for every one (Jew and Gentile alike) who refused to
accept Jesus Christ, salvation was impossible.
III. Paul's life at Rome is described.

1. He had (a) a considerable amount of freedom (v.
30). At first he was doubtless with his friends. Then he
had '' his own hired dwelling." But always of course
there was a guard with him. He was a prisoner no doubt,
but yet able to accomplish all the plans he had in mind.

(b As a result he was enabled to teach ^' with all bold-
ness " (v. 31). This was one of the very few occasions in
Paul's ministry where none forbade him (v. 31) to teach
Jesus Christ. The Romans cared nothing about it. The
Jews dared not raise their usual tumult for fear of bring-
ing Roman magisterial displeasure upon themselves as
seditious. Paul took advantage of these circumstances in
favor of Christ. Paul was restricted by circumstances like
the rest of men. But his zeal was always at high pressure
and escaped in activity exactly according to the yielding
of circumstances. All opportunities, in other words, were
used to the full.

2. Misfortune was thus turned into good fortune
(see Phil, i : 12-18). (a) Paul's arrest in Jerusalem had
opened Rome to him. His imprisonment gave him secu-
rity. All things were working together for good : the
wrath of man was made to praise God, and '^in every
way Christ was proclaimed." Since the preaching of the
cross was the chief aim in Paul's activity, we cannot won-
der that he rejoiced in his bonds, which opened to him a

286 HINTS AND HELPS.

territory for evangelization which would have been closed
without them, (b) The substance of his doctrine remained
still the same : the kingdom of God, and Christ as the
way into it (v. 31). In his preaching as in his life Paul
kept close by his Saviour.

IV. We have here the conclusion of the book of Acts,
It has sometimes been called abrupt. But the last sen.
tence is flowing and complete. It is a rounded period
intended to close the book. And yet the end of Paul's
Roman experience and the end of his Hfe are not de-
scribed. But (a) the gospel is shown to have been preached
apostolically from Jerusalem to Rome. Representatively
the whole world had been evangelized. The type was
complete of the actual proclamation of the cross to all the
nations. This is the object of the Acts. The book is not
a life of Paul, (b) The cause is everything, the instru-
ment is nothing. Rome hears about Jesus Christ — Rome
the proud capital of the world. No matter about Paul.

V. Closing thoughts,

1. The kingdom is infinitely greater than any who
serve it. The message is more than the messenger. Let
us lift up the cross and hide ourselves.

2. The gospel is world- conquering. Rome hears and
heeds not. But she shall heed yet. Kings shall come
with their gifts, and nations shall flock to the throne of the
triumphant Christ.

3. Blessed are all those who, with Paul, have a share,
however humble, in spreading the kingdom of God. Is
life worth living ? A thousand times yes, when spent in
this glorious service.

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 287

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL.

Romans 1:8-17.

Paul believed in thoroughness. He would have
subscribed instanriy to the maxim '' Whatever is worth
doing is worth doing well.'' While at Gamaliel's school
he shirked none of his lessons. When engaged at his
trade he did good, honest work. It was enough to say of
a tent .in the market, '' Saul of Tarsus made it." So long
as he was a Jew he was a thorough Jew, ^' one of the
straitest sect," a zealot, an inquisitor breathing out slaugh-
ter against those who differed with him. When he
became a Christian he was a thorough Christian, shrink-
ing from no hardship, ready to meet every duty and
responsibility.

He began his ministry with three years of preparation
in the Arabian desert. This was his " seminary course."
There was no hurry. He must settle his convictions, get
a thorough furnishing, bide God's time, and await orders.
When the orders came he replied, " I am ready," and
thereafter he held himself ever in readiness for anything-
that the Master might require of him. He was ready to
go with the gospel to his old home at Tarsus, ready to
visit the towns of Asia Minor, ready to cross over into
Europe — '^ ready to go to Rome also," though going to
Rome meant bearding the lion in his den. All this be-
cause he had settled convictions. He knew whom he be-
lieved, reckoned that any sufferings which might befall
him were not worthy to be compared with the ultimate
glory, and was persuaded that nothing here or hereafter

288 HINTS AND HELPS.

could separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus
his Lord.

The fact is, when Paul came out of those solitudes of
Arabia he was something of a fanatic in the world's es-
teem. He had confronted God in the lonely wastes ; had
made himself familiar, face to face and eye to eye, with
the great verities and solemnities of the spiritual world.
Thenceforth he was of moral necessity a man of one idea —
namely, to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.
" I am determined," he said, '* to know nothing but Christ,
and him crucified." And again, " I count all things but
loss that I may win Christ." And again, *' This one thing
I do : forgetting the things which are behind and reach-
ing forth unto those which are before, I press towards the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus."

I. Here is his boast: " I am not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christy Loud vaunting, this ; and particularly in an
age when loyalty to the Gospel meant exposure to axe
and fagot and beasts of the amphitheatre. But Paul was
no vainglorious braggart. He was able to vindicate his
words ; he did vindicate them splendidly again and again.
Observe how he did it.

(i) He proved that he was not ashamed of the Gos-
pel by the fact that he accepted it heartily and gave up
everything for it. Everything ! He ^' counted all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus." The word rendered '' loss " has reference to por-
tions of a cargo thrown over in stress of storm. For the
sake of the Gospel he had thrown over his pride of birth ;
for was he not '' of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Ben-
jamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews ?" For the sake of the
Gospel he had thrown over his pride of learning ; he

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 289

was familiar with the wisdom of the schools, but after his
conversion he accounted that " the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God." For the Gospel's sake he had
thrown over whatever of competency he had by inherit-
ance and social patronage, and had resumed the trade of
tent-making that he might be beholden to nobody while
dispensing the riches of the heavenly grace. For the
Gospel's sake he had thrown over his proud position as a
rabbi and Sanhedrist. In all Israel there had been no
youth with a brighter outlook than he. Now he was
ostracized, looked down upon, persecuted. But all this
he accepted with equanimity, nay with joyful pride,
knowing that his new possession was worth a thousand-
fold what he had sacrificed for it.

A man^s religion is usually worth what it costs him.
A nugget of gold may bring a few dollars more or less in
the market ; but if its owner tells you that it represents a
toilsome journey to the gold fields, a journey made at
peril of life with hunger and thirst and privations innu-
merable, you will understand when he adds, " money
could not buy it."

This is the touchstone of value in spiritual things :
What has your religion cost you? Paul could never
have given up so much for a Gospel that was not inesti-
mably dear to him. And having paid so much for his
religion he could not possibly be ashamed of it. Cheap
things are likely to be treated with small consideration.
If Christ and his salvation are worth anything they are
worth everything to us.

(2) Paul, furthermore, proved that he was not
ashamed of the Gospel by the fact that he delighted to
preach it. " Necessity is upon me," he exclaimed, ^^ woe
is me if I preach not the Gospel,"
19

290 HINTS AND HELPS.

He was an unwearying missionary. Soon after his
.return from Arabia he betook himself to Tarsus with the
purpose of declaring the Gospel to his former friends and
fellow-townsmen. In the fashionable city of Corinth he
preached it '' from house to house." At Phihppi he began
with a sermon to a company of women by the riverside,
kept up his work in spite of persecution and desisted only
when the scourge compelled him. The city of Great
Diana was stirred to its centre by his fearless eloquence.
At Jerusalem he was followed by a howling mob to the
steps of the Castle of Antonia, from which he told the
story of his conversion in burning words. In the judg-
ment hall at Csesarea he reasoned so mightily of righteous-
ness and judgment to come that his royal auditors trem-
bled and were glad to be rid of him. On his way to be
tried in the Imperial City, when the ship was driving
through the hissing seas, sails torn and masts shattered, he
delivered his message to the accompaniment of fierce
Euraquilo. In the Mamertine prison at Rome, earnest as
ever, he did not forbear to exhort his guards and declare
the truth to such as were permitted to visit him, insomuch
that he " begat many children in his chains."

Ashamed of the Gospel ! Oh, no. He gloried in it.
He took every opportunity of declaring it ; and where op-
portunities fell short he made them. Weak-kneed and
tongue-tied Christians there may be, who

' ' Like peasant foot-boys do aye keep the walls
And dare not take up arms like gentlemen,'*

but Paul was not one of them. Christianus sum was his
boast. He was ever ^' ready ;" he was never *^ ashamed."
By the example of this holy apostle let us all be moved to
more unflinching valor. Here is our song :

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 29I

" I ^m not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend his cause,
Maintain the honor of his word,
The glory of his cross."

(3) But Paul still further justified his words " I am
not ashamed of the Gospel '' by the manner in which he
exemplified its precepts in his daily life. At the bottom
of his life there were three fundamental principles. The
first of these was conformity to Christ, His idea of pre-
destination is expressed in the words " whom God fore-
knew them he did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son;" Rom. 8: 29. This he believed to be
the summit of character and the objective point of the
Christian life. '' We all," he says, '' with open face be-
holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed
into the same image from glory to glory even as by the
Spirit of the Lord ;" 2 Cor. 3:18. The second of Paul's
guiding principles was the authority of conscience. Law,
duty, obedience were sacred words to him. He began his
Christian life with "What wilt thou have me to do?" and
ended it with '' I have fought the good fight, I have fin-
ished my course, I have kept the faith." To the Corin-
thians he wrote " Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of
our conscience that in simphcity and godly sincerity, not
with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, we have had
our conversation in the world ;" 2 Cor. 1:12. And the
third of Paul's controlling principles was benevolence. He
felt himself to be every man's debtor lor Jesus' sake. And
the purpose of his life was to discharge this debt by pre-
senting to every man the Gospel of the grace of God. In
his letter to the Romans he makes this solemn assevera-
tion : '' I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience
also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have

292 HINTS AND HELPS.

great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart ; for I could
wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my breth-
ren, my kindred according to the flesh." Rom. 9 : 1-3.

It is said of Michael Angelo that when he painted he
wore a candle over the visor of his cap to prevent his
own shadow from falling on the canvas. Christ was the
light by which Paul lived and wrought ; and this light so
shone into his life and through it as to shut selfishness
out of it.

(4) Further still, Paul showed that he was not
ashamed of the Gospel by his willingness to die for it.

During the Neronian persecution, in which the fren-
zied tyrant exhausted his* infernal ingenuity in devising
tortures, Paul — so tradition says — ventured into Rome
to comfort the disciples of Christ in their extremity. He
was arrested and cast into prison. It was then that he
wrote that inspiring letter to Timothy in which he protests
that he is "now ready to be offered." He had not long
to wait. One day, unnoted in history, he was led forth to
the place of execution. His eyes being blindfolded he
was ordered to lay his head upon the block. He paused
a moment, Hfted his hands saying, " The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you all," and then obeyed.
There was the flash of a sword — and '' Paul the aged "
had given the last and best vindication of his boast, " I
am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ."

Ah, if our eyes could have followed the soul that
mounted from that feeble and maimed body to the skies !
What songs of welcome ! What greetings ! And best of
all one voice, the voice of the Master saying, " Thou wast
not ashamed of me ; wherefore in the presence of my Fa-
ther and the angels, Paul, I acknowledge thee !"

II. We have heard Paul's boast and have marked how

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 293

he justified it. But we have yet to learn his reasons for
making it, " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ/'
he says, ''for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth." The word '' for " introduces
us to the 7^ationale of his courage.

(i) The Gospel is power, Paul was writing to a
people who revered power. The name of their empire,
Roma, meant power. The father of their gods was Jupi-
ter Tonans, the irresistible. They bowed in worship
before the known forces of nature.

We are all similarly moved. We want an omnipo-
tent God — a God that answereth by fire — an invulnerable
creed, a sanctuary that can stand untrembling amidst the
wreck of matter and the crush of worlds. The Gospel
abides the test. Of all rehgions Christianity alone has
resisted the assaults of time. It is venerable but not
antiquated. Science has confirmed it. Philosophy has
corroborated it. It illustrates in its own history its glori-
ous doctrine of the endless life.

(2) The Gospel is the power of God, The thought
of power is greatly relieved by the mention of that name
in connection with it. The central figure of the Gospel is
Jesus Christ whose other name is " The Arm of the
Lord." This Arm is made bare for the deliverance of
souls from sin ; as it is written, ** Who hath believed our
report, and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed ?"
The figure is that of a workman rolling back his sleeve
when about to undertake a difficult task. Thus is the
Gospel strikingly set forth as a manifestation of divine
power in behalf of a lost and ruined world.

(3) The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
It does a great many other things, incidentally, but salva-
tion is its master stroke.

294 HINTS AND HELPS.

The test of any power is in its application. We shall
be ready to believe in the '' Keeley motor " when we can
break it to harness or use it with running gear. So the
ultimate proof of the value of the Gospel is in what it can
do. What can it do ? It can save an immortal soul. It
proposes to save ; and it does save. '' This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners."

Salvation is a large word. It means more than de-
liverance from the fire unquenchable and the worm that
dieth not. It means rescue from sin — from the bondage
of it ; for sin is worse than hell, since it involves it. It
means upbuilding in righteousness, reformation, character,
holy life. It means promotion to the work of the king-
dom of God; the honor of participation in that great
spiritual enterprise which is being carried on under the
supervision and control of the Holy Ghost, with the final
purpose of bringing the world back to truth and righteous-
ness.

Whether or no we enter into this salvation depends
on our attitude towards Christ. The Gospel is the power
of God unto salvation " to every one that believethr Faith
makes us partakers of the heavenly grace. By faith we
clasp hands with the only-begotten Son of God in his
mighty work of redemption. In accepting his Gospel we
fall in with the multitude who are carrying on the great
reforms, tearing down strongholds of iniquity, giving the
light to those who lie in darkness and the shadow of
death, rnaking the waste places rejoice and blossom as
the rose, and doing their utmost in every way to hasten
the appearing of the Lord when his glory shall cover the
earth as the waters cover the deep.

Ashamed of this Gospel ? A thousand times no ! Let

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 295

US rather glory in it and pray God that we may know
more and more of it. For it is the one thing on earth
that brings heaven near and makes Hfe sweet. It is the
Arm of the Father, made bare and reached down out of
heaven to pluck us out of danger and place us within
reach of blessings unutterable and full of glory.

2g6 HINTS AND HELPS.

REDEMPTION IN CHRIST.

Romans 3:19-26..

We must all appear before the judg-ment bar of God.
On the sentence there to be passed upon us will depend
our eternal weal or woe. The criterion of judgment will
be merit or righteousness. There will be no partiality, no
favor or disfavor, no deviation from the rule appointed.
The soul that is defiled with sin shall die ; and converse-
ly the soul that is found clothed in spotless righteousness
shall live in endless felicity. Everything will turn on
merit or — as it is here called — righteousness. This is the
teaching of the Bible ; but if there were no Bible it would
still be an accepted truth ; for it rests not more distinctly
on Revelation than on philosophy and common sense.
The Buddhist doctrine known as Karma or consequences
is found in one form or another in every religion on earth.
Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.

** The mills of God grind slowly,
But they grind exceeding small ;
Though with patience he stands waiting.
With exactness grinds he all."

There is no escaping the edict: Life for righteousness,
Death for sin.

It is for this reason that men everywhere and in all
ages have been concerned about merit.

In response to Bildad's argument on exact retribu-
tion, Job said with an accent of despair, '' I know it is so
of a truth ; but how should man be just before Godf^ In
other words, What hope is there, in view of the inflexible
rule of judgment, for a man whose soul is polluted with

REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 297

sin? How shall he so clothe himself as to appear
worthily at the great assize ? Where shall he find the
necessary merit, the righteousness that shall be as a wed-
ding garment in the great day ?

The Hindu who measures his length along the earth
in a weary journey to the Ganges in seeking thereby to
make merit. The Confucianist burning incense before the
memorial tablets of his ancestors is hoping thus to lay up
an accumulation of merit or righteousness against the
coming day of judgment. The Pharisee who makes long
prayers and pays tithe of his garden herbs is doing the
same thing. So is the nun who counts the beads in her
rosary. So is the moralist who prides himself on his in-
tegrity and benevolence. - The instinct is universal ; we
are all trying to make merit; all alike endeavoring to
weave a robe of righteousness for the day when we must
appear before God.

Alas, if any of us should make a mistake ! Alas, if
our wedding garment should prove at the last to be a
covering of mere shreds and tatters ! To avert this dan-
ger the apostle writes the admonition before us. He tells
us distinctly that there are two kinds of righteousness :
the one spurious and deceptive, the other as spotless as
the fine linen of the angels. In chapter ten of the same
Epistle he marks the difference with great clearness : " /
bear them record^' he says in reference to his Jewish
brethren, '' that they have a zeal for God, but not according
to knowledge. For they bei7ig ignora7it of Gods righteous^
ness, and going about to establish their ow?i righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the
righteousness which is of the law, that the man which

2g8 HINTS AND HELPS.

doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteous-
ness which is of faith speaketh on this wise : Say not in
thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven f (that is, to
bring Christ down from above,) or Who shall descend into
the deep ? (that is to bring up Christ again from the dead,)
But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith which
we preach, to wit, If thou shall confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus and shall believe in thy heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation.^^

Returning now to the passage before us let us ob-
serve the Hne which the apostle -draws between the Right-
eousness which is of the law and the Righteousness of
God which is by faith in Jesus Christ.

I. The Righteousness of the Law. In this there is
no possibility ol salvation. The statement is made dis-
tinctly, " By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justi-
fied." The best sinner that ever Hved deserved death
under the law ; and unless he acquired the necessary
merit in some other way the sentence of death has been
passed upon him.

What then is the function of law? (i) If man had
never sinned he would be justified by it. The law has in
it the promise of life for such as keep it, but not for such
as break it. (2) In the case of sinners it serves as a
detective, exposing their shortcomings and transgressions.
Where there is no law of Scripture or conscience there
can be no imputation of sin. By the law cometh the
knowledge of sin. By the law all our alleged righteous-
nesses are made to appear as filthy rags. (3) It serves,
furthermore, as a jailer. It is written in Galatians 3 : 22,

REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 299

" The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe." The word '' concluded " means Hterally
imprisoned. The law shuts up the sinner as in a dun-
geon to await his trial. It makes escape impossible save
in the one way which we are presently to consider. (4) It
serves still further as a prosecutor. '' We know that what
things soever the law saith it saith to them who are under
the law ; that every mouth may be stopped and all the
world may become guilty before God." Guilty ! We are
standing before the judgment bar of the Most High. Time
was when we flattered ourselves that we were possessed of
personal merit. We thought that when the supreme mo-
ment should be at hand we might appear in fine linen
white and .clean ; but the law speaks and our hearts sink
within us. It urges its demand of perfect obedience;
saying, '' Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do
them," Gal. 3 : 10. It insists that guilt resides not in the
multiplicity of sin only, but in the very nature of it : " For
whoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all ;" James 2 : 10. It declares that,
inasmuch as each moment has its own full measure of
responsibility, if a man has sinned but once no subsequent
obedience can atone for it. It calls up the mislived past —
the awful unatoned-for past. It presents an appalling in-
dictment— sins innumerable, sins of omission and com-
mission, sins of thought, word, and deed — and we drop
our eyes in utter shame and despair. Our white linen is
naught but filthy rags. We are guilty, guilty under the
law and before God. (5) But for such as are willing, the
law serves also as a schoolmaster, ^*to bring us unto
Christ that we may be justified by faith;" Gal. 3:24,

300 HINTS AND HELPS.

The '' pedagogue " here referred to was a servant em-
ployed to lead the pupil to school. Thus the law, by
exposing our sins and the inadequacy of our personal
merit, leads us to the great Master who can instruct us in
true righteousness and the way of everlasting life.

II. We now turn to the other form of Righteous-
ness— the Righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

At this point we touch the centre of our Christian
religion, the doctrine of Justification by Faith, which
Luther rightly called '' the article of a standing or faUing
church." If the righteousness of the law is sufficient for
salvation then there is no value in our theological system.
As Paul says to the Galatians, "We have believed in
Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ and not by the works of the law ; for by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified ;" and, further on,
" I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live
unto God. I do not frustrate the grace of God ; for if
righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in
vain;" Gal. 2 : 15-31.

This righteousness of God is called a *^ righteousness
without the law " and is said to be "witnessed by the law
and the prophets," that is, by the Scriptures. The divine
Word is full of it from the protevangel in Eden to the
last benediction, " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all." Thus Scripture is its witness ; and no man
can believe in Scripture or frankly receive it as his rule of
faith and practice without a cordial acquiescence in this
doctrine of the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus
Christ. From the testimony of Scripture here as else-
where we reach the following conclusions : First. All
men are sinners. " For there is no difference ; all have

REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 301

sinned and come short of the glory of God." Second.
DeHverance has been provided ^* through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." The cross of Jesus is the solution
of our difficulty. He bare our sins in his own body on
the tree. He took our place under the law, and was
wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniqui-
ties, that by his stripes we might be healed. He paid our
penalty and so made it possible for God to save us con-
sistently with justice. '' For what the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh " — that is, through the
infirmity of our human nature — *' God, sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us." Rom. 8 : 3. The self-sacrifice of Jesus in
our behalf was in the nature of a propitiation for our sins.
'' He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us; as it is written, *^ Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree," Gal. 3: 13. If we are ever
saved from death, therefore, it will not be on account of
personal sinlessness but because of the vicarious sufl*ering
of Jesus Christ. What we deserved he bore in our be-
half; as it is written, '^ He descended into hell" for us.
Third, The benefits of the death of Jesus Christ are
appropriated by faith. He is "' set forth to be a propitia-
tion through faith in his blood." The righteousness of
grace is offered to all; but it is^* upon all them that be-
lieve." All men are made salvable by the atonement
which God has provided, '^ being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ;"
but only such are saved as are willing to receive it. So it
is written, " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth," Rom. 10:4. Water is free:
but a man who refuses to drink may stand by the river-

302 HINTS AND HELPS.

side and perish of thirst. God's grace in the atonement is
Hke a rope thrown to a drowning swimmer ; he lives if he
grasps it.

In the provision which God has made for our re-
demption, not through our vain righteousness but through
the righteousness of grace, he has preeminently '^ declared
his own righteousness " — that is, his loyalty to truth and
justice — "that he might be just and the justifier of him
that believeth in Jesus." No law nor principle of justice is
violated in the salvation of the sinner through the propi-
tiation of the cross. In this exhibition of divine wisdom
and power, '' mercy and truth are met together, righteous-
ness and peace have kissed each other." And here at
length an answer is found to the patriarch's despairing
cry, " But how shall man be just before God ?"

Thus clearly does the apostle distinguish between the
two righteousnesses ; that which is under the law and that
which is of grace. It is for every man to say for himself
whether he will trust to his personal merit or to Christ's
atonement for his vindication in the great day. If any
man perish it must be by his own perverseness. We shall
all presently appear in judgment before God — in what ap-
parel ? In our own righteousness, that which is of the
law ? Then disappointment awaits us ; we shall seem in
our rags like beggars in the palace of the king. Or in
the imputed righteousness of Jesus, the spodess garment
woven for us by the pierced hands of the Saviour?
Then shall his grace reign through his righteousness
unto our eternal life.

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress ;
*Mid flaming worlds in these arrayed
With joy shall I lift up my head.^'

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 303

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

Rom. 5:1-11.

All Scripture is profitable, but some portions are
more profitable than others and are like mines of hid treas-
ure. If the story of the '' Fifth of Romans " could be told,
it would embrace the conversion of an innumerable mul-
titude. It is Hke the scone stone of the coronation chair
in Westminster Abbey on which the sovereigns of Eng-
land have been crowned for a thousand years and more.
This glorious truth of reconciliation through Christ has
exalted many sinners to be kings and priests unto God.
In one of Dr. James Hamilton's letters he speaks of a visit
which he once made to a county almshouse. " It was,"
he says, '' a windy afternoon. There sat before a feeble
fire a very aged man who, the better to keep from his
bald head the cold gusts, wore his bonnet, though never
again likely to need it out of doors. He was deaf, and
so shaken with the palsy that one of his wooden shoes
was constantly clattering on the hearth. But, deaf and
sick and helpless as he was, his heart was quite content.

" 'What are you doing, Wiseby ?' said I.

" ' Waiting, sir.'

'''And what for?'

" ' For the appearing of my Lord.'

" ' And why do you wish for his appearing?'

" ' Oh, sir, because I expect great things when he
comes. He has promised a crown of righteousness to all
who love his appearing.'

" Then I asked him the foundation of his hope. By

304 HINTS AND HELPS.

degrees he adjusted his heavy bowed glasses and opening
the great Bible beside him pointed to the place where it is
written, ' Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.' "

*^ Therefore " at the outset is a significant opening.
It points back to the apostle's argument with respect to
justification by faith, the great doctrine of the Reformation
and of the universal evangelical church of Jesus Christ.
Luther, when a monk, visited Rome to see the pomp and
circumstance of worship there. He was horrified by what
he saw ; '' Pompa diaboli^' he called it. He perceived that
there must be something better in true religion. As he
climbed the Sanda Scala on bended knee it flashed upon
him in an instant, " The just shall live by faith." Those
who, following Luther, held to this great doctrine were
called in derision *' Solifidians," i. e., believers in the virtue
of faith alone, or, in one word, faith-only-ans. The name
is now obsolete, but the children of those who wore it have
become an exceeding great multitude whom no man can
number. These are the people to whom the apostle refers
when he says, '' We, being justified by faith." The inven-
tory here given of the things which they possess through
Jesus Christ shows them to be incalculably rich towards
God.

L We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. The early fathers were wont to speak of three
spiritual states, the state of Sin, the state of Grace, and the
state of Glory. The first result of justification by faith is
a deliverance from the state of Sin.

We are at war with God. Sin is the occasion of the
awful controversy between us and our Creator. It is said

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 305

that the warHke Alani had no god but a naked scimitar
thrust into the earth in the midst of the camp. The nat-
ural man is in Hke manner devoted to conflict with his
Maker. The carnal mind is enmity against God. This
is a veritable variance. On our side there is rebellion ;
on God's side there is just indignation. If there is ever
to be peace, it must be by mutual reconciliation. The
bitterness must be taken out of human hearts and the di-
vine anger must be appeased. This is done by the Medi-
ator, Christ, who is the God-man. On the cross Christ,
with his hands outstretched, brings God and man to an
at-one-ment. Thus is the reconciliation secured. He
places our hand in the hand of an offended Jehovah and
brings about a blessed peace.

The Duke of Wellington said, " In every battle there
is one pivotal moment which determines the issue.'' Our
spiritual conflict terminated at Golgotha where Christ,
who is the great Champion of God upon one side and of
humanity on the other, went out single-handed against
the Prince of Darkness. Six mortal hours he strove, and
then returned victorious with the keys of death and hell
at his girdle. It was our battle that he fought; it was
God's battle too ; and by overcoming our common enemy
he brought about a mutual reconciliation.

The result is peace, with honor. Any other reconcili-
ation than that at Golgotha is but a patched-up truce. In
bearing our sins in his own body on the tree he satisfied
justice, magnified the law, made all men salvable, and
saved all who for evermore would believe in him. On the
cross our Lord Jesus Christ took a great multitude of pris-
oners of hope, and every one of them he delivered out of
bondage and brought into the glorious liberty of the king-
dom of God.

20

306 HINTS AND HELPS.

II. We have access by faith into this grace wherein we
stand.

The state of Grace wherein we now stand is a whole
world of comfort. Grace is God's goodness to the unde-
serving. We live daily in the experience of the unde-
served goodness of our God. What is there worth the
having here ?

(i.) There is conflict in this state of grace. Not con-
flict with God, for with him the Solifidians have peace for
evermore. But they are at conflict with their lower selves,
as the apostle said, ^' What I would, that do I not; but
what I hate, that do I." They are busied all the while in
fighting the sins of their carnal nature. Nor will this
conflict cease until they pass through the gates of the
heavenly city.

(2.) But with this conflict they have the confident as-
surance of pardon. '' There is therefore now no condem-
nation to them that are in Christ Jesus.'' '' No man," said
he, *' shall pluck them out of my hand."

" I left it all with Jesus long ago ;
All my sins I brought him and my woe.
When by faith I saw him on the tree,
Heard his still small whisper, ^ Tis for thee,'
From my heart the burden rolled away. Happy day !'*

(3.) We have fellowship one with another in the king-
dom of God. The Church, Ecclesia, is a great and goodly
fellowship, and all we who are justified by faith have part
in it. Plutarch says that the secret of Rome's power lay
in the fact that her captives were not slain nor enslaved
nor humiliated in any way, but incorporated into the body
politic and made partakers of civic privileges. So is it
with those who are subjugated to truth and holiness by
the power of Christ. They are made prisoners of hope.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 307

identified with the universal fellowship of believers, made
partakers in the work of building up the kingdom of
righteousness, and enfranchised every way with all the
glorious liberties of the children of God.

III. The state of Glory. And we rejoice in hope ol
the glory of God. Observe that, being in the state of
grace, our interest in glory is, through anticipation, a
mere foretaste.

On the great Day of Atonement the High Priest had
access into the " Holiest of All,'' but even there he saw
not the Glory. The luminous cloud that hovered above
the Ark of the Covenant was but an adumbration of the
glory of God. We who are justified by faith are received
into the ^^ HoHest of All '' by a new and living way ; but
God's glory is merely our hope as yet.

Our eyes are not strong enough to bear it ; we can
only see as in a glass darkly. So splendid were the adorn-
ments of the great Temple of Diana at Ephesus that on the
outer archway was inscribed, " Look to your eyes." How,
think you, could a mortal bear the sudden burst of glory
from the ineffable throne ? But one day our sight will
be so clarified and spiritualized that we may gaze unterri-
fied and undazzled upon it. Now we speak in parables
of pearly gates and golden streets, of a pure white throne,
and of wing6d multitudes ; but these are only dim pictures
of things unspeakable by mortal tongue, invisible to mor-
tal eyes, and unimaginable by the mind of man. In that
day, however, we shall know even as we are known ; we
shall see face to face and eye to eye.

Now and then a saint in the borderland, just as he
passes out of time into eternity, catches a glimpse of these
unspeakable things* Thomas Aquinas left off writing his
" Summa Theologiae " to attend a sacrament, and while

308 HINTS AND HELPS.

here was so filled with rapture that he could never be per -
suaded to resume his poor disquisition on heavenly things,
so far had his earlier thoughts fallen short of the reality
which then came to him. There are saints who in their
last hour send back a word, a rhapsody, a cry of delight,
and vanish.

**The world recedes, it disappears,
And heaven opens on mine eyes.
Mine ears with sounds seriaphic ring !
Lend, lend your wings ! I mount! I fly !

O grave, where is thy victory !

O death, where is thy sting !"

But who shall tell what are the surprises of the next mo-
ment ? Oh if we could only follow them to see what they
see, and hear what they hear, when they pass through the
gates into the city ! But we who as yet are in the state
of grace can only hope for this glory. Blessed be God,
we can hope for it. This is our life, our sweet content,
our hidden manna, the hope of the glory of God. "John
Knox, hast thou hope?" asked an attendant when the
eyes of the reformer were filmed in death. He could no
longer speak, but slowly he raised his hand and pointed
towards the skies.

IV. One thing more. The apostle refers to it in those
expressive words ** not only so." " Not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also." He was writing to the Chris-
tians at Rome. He perceived with prophetic foresight
that very soon the storm of persecution would break upon
them. It was but four years later, in 64 A. D., when Nero
unsheathed his sword ; the followers of Jesus died under
his axe, were ground as God's fine wheat by the teeth of
Hons, were sawn asunder, flayed alive, and burned as liv-
ing torches in the Emperor's gardens.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 309

Paul foresaw what they would need. He knew that
they would need all the consolations of the gospel in the
coming dark days. He would fortify them against their
tribulations.

The sword is sheathed, the instruments of torture are
put away, the lions roar no more in the amphitheatre.
Yet we have our trials, and we need the strength of our
religion that we may bear up under them. The great
dramatist said :

'* Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in its head.''

The apostle puts it better : '' No affliction for the present
seemeth joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless afterward it
yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby." What is it all for ? For
the building up of character. '^ We glory in tribulation,
knowing that tribulation worketh patience ; and patience,
approval ; and approval, hope ; and hope maketh not
ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

What is it that weighs upon you, friend ? Is it physical
pain ? If so, let me commend to you the word of Edward
Payson, who said in his anguish, " God has laid me on my
back to teach me to look up." Is it loss of worldly
goods ? Let me remind you how brief our tenure is of
the handful of yellow dust and how precious and enduring
the treasure is that can be laid up in bags that wax not
old, by which we are enriched towards God. Is it be-
reavement ? Alas ! alas ! there is no sweetening the bit-
terness of the separation, and yet heaven is made a brighter
place and more homelike by the rending of these golden

3IO HINTS AND HELPS.

cords that bind us to the earth. And let me remind you
that our blessed religion gives us hope of a '' hame-bring-
ing."

These are the things which come to us through justifica-
tion by faith — a blessed inventory of spiritual possessions.
I pray you, beloved, think on these things. Delight your
hearts by gazing out upon these possessions. We are
still in a state of grace, but we are hastening on to glory.
Now are we sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. Pain, trouble, bereavement, what matter?
Our Hfe is but a handbreadth, eternity is for ever. Great
as our possessions are in this present life, we shall have
infinitely more. These are the assurances. If there were
no heaven, yet would the Christian life be ten thousand
times worth the living ; but our inventory takes in heaven
as well. All things are ours if only the love of God is
shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost which
is given unto us. We are blended with God. It is the
realization of the parable of the Vine and the branches.
Faith makes Christ and the believer one. His life is our
life, his sorrow our sorrow, his pain in redemption our
pain for the deliverance of the race, his life and immortal-
ity ours because we rise with him out of the sepulchre,
his destiny ours, for we shall sit together with him on
his throne. Thus if we are Christ's, all things are ours.
Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world, or hfe
or death, or things present or things to come, all are
ours and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

CHRISTIAN LIVING. 3II

CHRISTIAN LIVING.

Romans 12:1-15.

Paul turns to ethics. He has been leading us along
the narrow and sometimes steep and difficult paths of
doctrine — eleven chapters of theology — wonderful truths,
profound, inestimably important, bewildering. Not many
teachers could have come so far with so little stumbling
or led their pupils so safely and satisfactorily. We marvel
at Paul's philosophic insight and dialectic skill ; yet even
he could only touch the outer edges of the great verities,
and must needs conclude his lucubrations with a con-
fession of ignorance. The divine nature and character,
" free-will, fixed fate, foreknowledge absolute ;" the incar-
nation, justification by faith, assurance, retribution, the
endless life — these are some of the sublimities and pro-
fundities which have engaged his thought. We have
marked him passing along from truth to truth with ever
new surprise, like one pursuing his way in Golconda and
gathering here and there a precious stone, until on a sud-
den he reaches the mine itself, walled and garnished with
treasure like a vast orb of burning light. So Paul comes
at length in his doctrinal quest upon the Covenant of
Grace — Free Grace — whereat he pauses with a cry of
wonder, *' Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God ! How unsearchable are his judg-
ments and his ways past finding out! For who hath
known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his coun-
sellor? or who hath first given unto Him, and it shall be
recompensed unto him again ? For of him and throu^^h

312 HINTS AND HELPS.

him and to him are all things ; to whom be glory for ever
and ever !"

Then he turns to ethics, to a consideration of the
practical affairs of life. The word " therefore '^ marks the
transition : '' I beseech you, therefore, brethren, that ye
present yourselves a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
unto God."

I. Thus the Christian life begins. Its first act is
surrender, a giving up to God. The word " body " is
used inclusively, as when we say *' anybody " or ^' every-
body." It means the entire self — body, soul, and spirit.
The figure of sacrifice is borrowed from the great Day of
Atonement, when a living victim, without spot or blem-
ish, was brought to the altar. So, says the apostle, must
ye bring yourselves, a hving sacrifice, holy and accepta-
ble unto God.

There is no other door of entrance into Christian liv-
ing. The Master himself said, " If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and fol-
low me." The fathers were wont to make three steps to
heaven, namely,

" Out of self,
Unto Christ,
Into glory." ^

Neither Christ nor glory can be won until self is pre-
sented as a sacrifice, living and holy, and therefore ac-
ceptable unto God.

This is here represented as a "reasonable service."
Nothing is required of us which is not reasonable. The
religion of Jesus is preeminently a reasonable one. We
are not dealt with as creatures of instinct or impulse.
He draws us ''with the bands of a man." (Hos. 11:4.)
He recognizes the fact that we are rational beings, made

CHRISTIAN LIVING. 313

in his own likeness, with minds and consciences and
hearts ; wherefore he says, " Come now, let us reason to-
gether.'* So, in the present instance, the act of self-sur-
render is urged upon us as a reasonable thing. Why is it
so ? First, because it is right. A right thing is always
reasonable. Conscience tells us that we belong to God
by right of creation, and by right of purchase as well :
'' Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price (i Cor.
6:19), not with silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with-
out spot'' (i Pet. 1:18). His by creation and his by
purchase, he has manifestly a property right in us. Hon-
est men pay their honest debts. Wherefore we ought
straightway to give ourselves up to God. Second, it is
reasonable because it is prudent. Safety lies that way.
A man cannot rob God of his just possession without
jeopardizing his own interests. For the Lord our God is
a jealous God. Our talents are trust funds ; to use them
without reference to their owner is in the nature of em-
bezzlement. The punishment set for such misappropria-
tion of God's property is outer darkness and weeping and
gnashing of teeth. It is far better, looked at from the
standpoint of self-interest, to allow God to have his own.
And third, it is reasonable because it is the suggestion of
manly gratitude. '' I beseech you, brethren, by the mer-
cies of God, that ye present yourselves unto him." His
mercies are innumerable; his gracious thoughts to us-
ward are more in number than the sand. He lulled us to
sleep last night, held us in his arms and watched over us
more tenderly than any mother over an ailing child. He
awoke us in the morning and led us forth with a promise
of strength and wisdom to meet the duties of another day.
We live and move and have our being in him. We

314 HINTS AND HELPS.

breathe his air, eat at his table, and wear the clothing
which he provides for us. A man who would receive
such favors from an earthly friend without a sense of pro-
found obligation and utter indebtedness would be regard-
ed as a despicable ingrate. The least that we can do in
return for God's loving-kindness and tender mercies is to
give ourselves to him, to love, honor, and serve him.

11. Then comes transformation : as it is written, ''And
be not conformed tg this world ; but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

At the instant of surrender to God the soul passes
through a metamorphosis more wonderful than any that
Ovid ever dreamed of. The whole nature is renewed.
The heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh ; the
conscience that was warped and seared is made respon-
sive to the divine call ; the mind that was filled with vain
imaginations is open to truth ; and the will that ran like a
crooked path hither and yon is straightened and made
parallel with the purpose of God. The man is a new
creature in Christ Jesus. Tastes, habits, aspirations, con-
ceptions of truth and duty, ambitions for time and eter-
nity, all are reconstructed and adjusted to a new order of
things. This is sometimes called regeneration ; here it is
called transformation. It is set forth as an upHfting and
glorifying, a bringing of the whole man into divine con-
formity. We are exhorted to attain unto it as men delve
into the earth and scale the mountains for immense
wealth : " Be ye transformed — be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind — that ye may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

It is obvious that such a transformation can permit
no ''conformity to the world." The two are antipodal. If

CHRISTIAN LIVING. 315

we have presented ourselves to God as a living sacrifice
and are wholly renewed by his Spirit, it ought to go
without saying that the flesh-pots of Egypt are nothing
to us. Yet here is our besetting sin. Nay, rather, let us
say that all our besetting sins are rolled into one, to wtt,
conformity. We turn oftentimes to the world for our
creed; listening to Worldly-wiseman as he denounces
orthodoxy and the veracity of Holy Writ, and giving
heed to all manner of vain imaginations and teachings of
science falsely so called. We turn to the world for our
code of morals also, fearful of being called singular and
strait-laced, preferring to go with the multitude rather
than to side with truth and holiness. If however, we are
given to Christ we are dead unto the world and alive to
him for evermore. His doctrine is our creed, his life is
our pattern of conduct. He is become unto us wisdom
and sanctification and righteousness and redemption.
Therefore love not the world, neither the things of the
world, for if any man love the world the love of God is
not in him. (i John 2 : 15.)

in. Then follows cooperation with God. To give
ourselves to him and abstain from worldliness is to enter
into his plans and purposes. In so doing we '^ prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God."

No pleasure in this world is comparable with that of
God's service. To serve him is to reign. The man who
is at cross purposes with him cannot by the wildest stretch
of the imagination be called a happy man. But to walk
beside the great Workman as he reaps the harvest, to
thrust in the sickle — dull sickle in a feeble hand ! — to
grow weary for him, to hear a word of encouragement
from his lips, oh this is a foretaste of heaven itself !

3l6 HINTS AND HELPS.

In PauPs injunction respecting the service there are
three things in particular worth noting : First ^ Take your
place and keep it. ^' Let a man not think of himself more
highly than he ought to think, but soberly, according as
God hath dealt to him the measure of faith." The man
who declines to serve except with a cockade or chevrons
is greatly in the way. Not all are qualified to be Heuten-
ants, else where were the rank and file? The prayer of
the best is. Put me where I belong. It may transpire
that the lad who carried water to the masons was more
worthy than the architect who planned the temple. It is
a great misfortune for an underling anywhere to be above
his place. Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty
spirit before a fall. In the great company of the faithful
there is a place for every one. The body of Christ has
^many members, " and every one members one of another ;
so that the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need
of thee ; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of
you. Nay, much more those members of the body which
seem to be more feeble are necessary.^' (i Cor. 12: 12-
26.) Wherefore let none think of himself more highly
than he ought ; but let each in his place be faithful accord-
ing to the measure of grace which is given unto him.

Second, Use your gifts. If pride has its dangers so
also has a lowly spirit. Servility is almost as bad as arro-
gance. The meanest man in Scripture is the man with
one talent ; he trusted neither God nor himself But to
the man who put out his ten pounds at usury the Master
said, " Because thou hast been faithful in a very little,
have thou authority over ten cities." The wise and dili-
gent use of whatever we have, whether much or little, is
the ground of promotion. " Having then gifts differing
according to the grace that is given unto us, whether

CHRISTIAN LIVING. 317

prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of
faith, or ministry, let us wait on our ministering-, or he that
teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation ;
he that imparteth let him do it liberally, he that ruleth
with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.''
In any case, neglect not the gift that is in thee.

Third, Do your best in everything, even the least.
Here we come upon a series of brief maxims such as,
" Let love be sincere ; Abhor the evil ; Cleave to the
good ; Be kindly aifectioned in the love of the brethren ;
Be not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord." Small matters these, yet they make the sum
and substance of Christian living. For what is character
but a necklace of virtues — small virtues all of them —
strung together for the adorning of the King's bride?
Let us take them in order as the apostle gives them :
love, goodness, brotherly-kindness, diligence, cheerful-
ness, patience, prayerfulness, benevolence, hospitality,
forgiveness, sympathy, humility, docility, integrity, and
peaceableness withal. In these are briefly comprehended
the duties which we owe to God, ourselves, and our fel-
low-men.

And this ethical discourse finds a suitable conclusion
in the words, '' Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good.'' The reward is for the overcomer. Life
is no dress parade. Character is not won with a wooden
b.7ord. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in
high places. Taking things easy means loss and failure.
Truth and virtue are golden apples in the Lord's garden ;
but dragons guard the gate. To win manhood requires
the spirit of a man. But the prize is worth the effort.

3l8 HINTS AND HELPS.

*' Take heaven," said one of the fathers, " with the wind in
your face !" The flush of courage deepens with the tem-
pest's roar. We are men made in God's Hkeness. We
can be what we choose ; we can go where we please ; we
can have all we want if only we quit ourselves like men.

Let us hear the voice of Him that walketh among
the seven golden candlesticks : " To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst
of the paradise of God. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the hidden manna ; and I will give him a
white stone and a new name written therein which no
man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Him that over-
cometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and
he shall go no more out ; and I will write upon him the
name of my God and the name of the city of my God ;
and I will write upon him my new name." What inspi-
ration to holy living is here ; what incentive to faithful-
ness, what strength for hard conflict in the high places of
the field ! Be not overcome of evil, therefore, O follower
of the Lord, but overcome evil with good. He waits to
welcome thee ! He waits to crown thee !

ABSTINENCE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. 319

ABSTINENCE FOR THE SAKE OF
OTHERS.

I Cor. 8:1-13.

It is said by Aristotle to have been the custom for
successful contestants in the Isthmian games to celebrate
by offering sacrifices in the temple of Poseidon, which
were followed immediately by magnificent banquets ; and
the altars furnished forth the tables. No doubt there were
some among these athletes who had friends in the Corin-
thian church, friends whom they desired to entertain at
their feasts. If, however, a Christian accepted the invita-
tion— and why not? — he found himself in a quandary.
The meats upon the table had been previously laid upon
the altars of the pagan gods. Should he partake of
them ? If he refused he might be charged with churHsh-
ness or scrupulosity. If he ate he might be regarded as
a participant in pagan rites of worship. At this distance
the matter seems of slight importance, a mere tempest in
a teapot ; but circumstances gave it such weight, and the
argument was pursued with such asperity, that the church
was likely to be rent asunder by it.

The interest in the controversy was not limited to
the banquet-goers, for after the sacrifices were over such
of the idol-meats as were not required for the festal cele-
brations were offered in the shambles, and whosoever
would might purchase them. Perhaps it was not easy to
distinguish between them and other meats ; in any case
they were savory and wholesome, and why should not
Christians be free to partake of them ? It was a vexa-
tious question and had two sides to it.

320 HINTS AND HELPS.

Not a few of the church members in Corinth reserved
the right to purchase and partake of these meats. They
reasoned on this wise: ''We know what we are doing
and have no fear of the consequences. We are not fools
that we should be easily enticed into our former super-
stitions. We understand the nothingness of idols and
the emptiness of pagan rites. The meats that have been
placed on their altars are neither worse nor better for it.
Why then should we be prohibited from eating them ?'*

Where is the flaw in their argument ? It is impor-
tant that we should know, for theirs is the argument
which underlies all the sophistries of individual freedom
in every age. The apostle meets and controverts it with
great clearness.

First, he alleges that charity is better than knowledge,
" We all,'' says he, " have knowledge." We are all able to
make a showing of reasonableness for our foibles and
prejudices. The poorest cause may be bolstered by an
argument. *' We know ! we know !" cry all the sophists;
but, behold, we show unto you a better way ! Knowl-
edge puffeth up, but charity edifieth, literally buildeth up.
Self-vindication makes us conceited and dogmatic; but
charity helps both us and others. It builds up character
for ourselves, and rebuilds the tottering virtues of those
about us.

The charity here referred to is the largest of the
Christian graces. It is the Greek dyaTr?/, the Vulgate
charitas; it is love in its broadest and deepest sense. It
includes love towards God as well as towards men. It is
like the constant commerce which is going on between
the waters of the heavens and the earth ; the rills trickle
into the brooks, the brooks murmur towards the rivers,
the rivers roll onward to the sea, and the seas are exhaled

ABSTINENCE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. 32 1

into the clouds above to distill again in grateful showers
and morning dews. So love is the constant means and
medium of communion between God and his children.
As South says, " It is the great instrument of nature, the
bond and cement of society, the spirit and spring of the
universe." Therefore, there can be nothing better than
charity. It never faileth. '' Whether there be prophe-
cies they shall fail, w^hether there be tongues they shall
cease, whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away f
but when all life's accumulation shall have evaporated,
like water in the sun, its sole residuum shall be love.

'*We know our franchise," said the Christian ban-
queters of Corinth ; " we have knowledge as to the true
character of idols and idol-worship, and are therefore in
no danger of being led astray." " Knowledge ! knowl-
edge !" repHes the aposde, '' but what about love? If any
man love God the same is known unto him, and that is
the knowledge worth having." All the wisdom of the
schools is not to be valued with the assurance that we
love God; and ''the same maybe known unto us." If
we have the filial spirit that says ''Abba, Father," we shall
cease quibbling and juggling in casuistical questions that
edify not, and shall devote ourselves to pleasing him and
making the lives of his children purer and happier. The
best of knowledge shall be ours, indeed, but not for
boasting. All graces shall abide, but charity will be first
and last and greatest for ever and ever.

The apostle turns secondly to a consideration of in-
dividual freedom. For these Corinthian Christians were
disposed to stand upon their rights. They said in effect,
" There is no specific injunction as to these idol-meats in
Scripture. The question is left to the individual con-
science. Our consciences are clear; the meats do not
21

322 HINTS AND HELPS.

injure us. We therefore propose to do as we please
about them." " Granted," says Paul, ^' I do not dispute
your rights in these premises ; but there are some impor-
tant facts which you are in danger of losing sight of."
He then reminds them (i) that the mere matter of eating
or abstaining is in itself of slight consequence ; ''for meat
commendeth us not to God ; neither if we eat are we the
better, nor if we eat not are we the worse." So small a
matter therefore as a dish upon one's table should not be
permitted to jeopardize the spiritual interests of any. If
important issues shall appear to be involved, it ought to
be an easy matter to give up the meat. (2) There are
some weaker brethren who have less knowledge. To
these the eating of the victim that has been offered in
sacrifice is nothing less than complicity with the idola-
trous rites; ''for they with recognition of the idol unto
this hour eat it as a thing offered to an idol, and their
conscience being weak is defiled." These weaker breth-
ren must not be left out of the reckoning. We are in a
measure responsible for them. The Lord admonishes us
that ** offences " or occasions of stumbHng must needs
come, " but woe to him by whom the offence cometh ; it
were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about
his neck and he were drowned in the midst of the sea."
Am t, then, my brother's keeper? Aye, and if he fall
over a stumbhng-block of my making, I shall be held re-
sponsible for it. (3) Rights are relative. Some of them
must bow down to others, as did the lesser stars to the
greater in the patriarch's dream. A man's lowest right
is to please himself; his highest is to deny himself for
others. The Corinthian had the right to eat meat from
the pagan altars, but he had also an unquestionable right
to let it alone ; and if so doing he might accomplish any

ABSTINENCE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. 323

good whatsoever, then manifestly duty lay that way.
Rights may conflict, but duties never ; and duty always
has the highest and uttermost claim. (4) As to indi-
vidual freedom there is no such thing. If there were only
one man in the universe he might be absolutely free to
serve his own pleasure, but the moment you introduce
another man there is a mutual restriction. Each is now
free only so far as his freedom does not infringe upon the
other. It is a mistake to think of freedom as license.
There is, in fact, nothing in the world more circumscribed
than true freedom. It is not lawlessness nor deliverance
from restraint. Its best definition is, '^ Perfect obedience
to perfect law." This being so, it is obvious that he who
rightly apprehends " the glorious liberty of the children
of God " will never presume to use it as a pretext for cut-
ting loose from the supreme law of love. True, " we are
no longer children of the bond-woman, but of the free."
True, we have escaped from the mountain that burned
with fire. But the statutes of Sinai are as green withes in
comparison with the golden chains and manacles that are
rivited upon the soul by that new commandment, " That
ye love one another." He who comes forth from the
bondage of the law into the liberty of the Gospel bows
down, at the very threshold of his new hfe, and gives
himself as a slave to serve the interests of his fellow men.
He covenants, for Jesus^ sake, to deny himself for others.
If there is one thing above all else inculcated in the Scrip-
tures it is that man can find no grander life than that of
self-denial which spends and is spent, which forfeits all
honor and emolument, which suffers and dies for the
divine privilege of lifting up the souls of the fallen from
darkness into light. The sweetest and noblest preroga-
tive of the Christian is to abandon all rights, to lie down

324 HINTS AND HELPS.

in the dust and become a way for men to walk upon to
the kingdom of God.

This leads us, thirdly, to consider with the apostle
the example of Christ himself. When we find his foot-
steps we may safely walk in them. Impressive words are
these, therefore, '' Through thy knowledge shall the weak
brother perish for whom Christ died ?"

For whom Christ died ! Is it true then that Jesus
stooped to the infirmity of the least of his little ones ? Is
it true that the feeblest and most ignorant was counted
worthy of his sympathetic consideration ? Aye, and here
are we, followers of his, haggling about meats and drinks !
God forgive us, that we fall so far short of the mind that
was in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Philippians 2 : 7 occurs a word about which there
is much controversy. The word is kenosis ; it means an
utter emptying, and is applied to Christ's humihation.
When he crossed the threshold of heaven to undertake
his redemptive work he laid aside crown, royal robes,
heavenly retinue, everything, that he might restore the
race of fallen men. He was free to remain where he was ;
but he put away his freedom and took upon himself the
form of a servant for our sake. It was his right to reign,
but he waived his right and became obedient unto death
for our sake. Oh, by the love and devotion of our Lord,
let us cease our clamoring for rights and prerogatives, and
begin to ask '' How may we empty ourselves as he did
for the uplifting of the children of men ?"

The words of the apostle have a close reference to
the temperance reform in these days. It is not for us to
question here the right of any man to take a social or even
a convivial glass. The controversy must be held upon a
loftier plane. Its decision is not to be brought about by

ABSTINENCE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. 325

the analysis of Greek roots, the exegesis of particular
texts of Scripture, or the settlement of historical questions
as to the kind of liquors used in Oriental countries long
ago. . It is estimated that last year in the United States
of America twelve hundred millions of dollars were spent
for intoxicating drink. To a man who believes that the
silver and the gold are God's, that fact must have an ap-
palling significance. But here is another more significant
still. An army of drunkards larger than the standing
army of the most formidable of the nations of the earth is
at this moment staggering down to the endless night. If
we could but stand on the edge of the abyss as they totter
upon it, we should hear the voice of retributive justice
calling back out of the darkness, '^ No drunkard shall in-
herit the kingdom of God." To thoughtful Christians a
fact like this outweighs and quite obliterates the claim of
personal right and freedom. Duty towers aloft like a
beacon flaming from a headland on a tempestuous night.
There is one thing to be done : the fallen must be lifted
up, the lost must be reclaimed, the world must be saved
at any cost. The Corinthian disciple who insisted on his
right to partake of the idol-meats when admonished that
souls were imperilled thereby, had but a mean concep-
tion of the responsibihty of the Christian life. The man
who clings to the wine-cup in these days has no better.
If it be true that intoxicating drink is poison to the peo-
ple of our land and age, if it fills our prisons with crim-
inals and our poorhouses with paupers, if it corrupts our
political and social life, if it cannot be used without en-
dangering the sacred peace of home and the sweet flower
of youth, if its enslavement is dragging a great multitude
as with fetters of steel to the chambers of death and hell —
facts that admit no doubt or peradventure — then our per»

326 HINTS AND HELPS.

sonal duty is as plain as if God had written it in fire across
the heavens, '' Touch it not'^

Let us learn our lesson under the cross. Was ever
such self-denial, such self-oblation, such self-forgetfulness ?
Oh for more of the spirit of him who, though rich, for our
sakes became poor, so poor that the very birds and
foxes were richer than he ! Farewell all rights and liber-
ties, farewell all subtle arguments and fondly cherished
prejudices ; and welcome, welcome the joy of breaking
the captives' chains and bidding the oppressed go free !
The ideal life is that which counts all selfish considera-
tions as the small dust when weighed in the balances
against the welfare of an immortal soul. The bravest of
the Old Guard at Waterloo was not a truer knight than
the wounded carrier who crawled on hands and knees
amid the carnage and darkness, putting his flagon to the
parched lips of the dying. Those who stand upon their
rights as men may win the honors of this world, but those
who forget all birthright privileges in a passion of benevo-
lence shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and
he whose life was spent for others, and whose death was
the ransom of a great multitude whom no man can num-
ber shall not be ashamed to call them brethren. The
point at which humanity comes nearest to Deity is self-
denial. Its best illustration is at Calvary where God
stoops down to embrace his penitent children. The sum-
mit of human character is reached when a man gives
himself for others. Christ did it. We also, for Christ's
sake, must do it.

THE RESURRECTION. 327

THE RESURRECTION.

I Cor. 15:12-26.

The doctrine of the resurrection is an essential of
Christianity. But it is hard for us even to think of.
There is comfort to us in knowing that the same wonder
and questioning about it which we have existed in the
minds of Christians at the dawn of church history. We
need not accuse ourselves of being degenerate. Faith
now is what it always was ; it comes in the same way, has
the same obstacles to overcome, has its life in the same
source.

The chapter a part of which is given for our study
is Paul's recognition of the questionings about the resur-
rection in the men of his day, and his answer to them,
so far as an answer can be made in this life. For we
walk by faith, not by sight. What he wrote is the best
possible answer which can be made to those same ques-
tionings as they arise in our hearts.

The first eleven verses of the chapter contain the
statement of the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus,
with some mention of the evidence for it. It would be
interesting to show the strength of this evidence. So
strong is it that we may say that to deny the resurrection
of Jesus is in effect to deny that there can be any such
thing as history.

After stating the fact of the resurrection the apostle
advances through a series of corroborative arguments.

He first (vv. 12-19) uses what is known as the logi-
cal method of reduciio ad absurdum ; that is, he sup-
poses, for the sake of argument, the opposite of what he

328 HINTS AND HELPS.

wants to prove, that there is no resurrection ; and from
that he shows that deductions follow which none of us is
willing to accept. If then this supposed conclusion is
false, the statement on which it rests is false. That is, it
is false to say that there is no resurrection. *' Now if it
be preached that Christ rose, and is living, from death,
how does it come to pass that some among you say that
there is no resurrection of the dead ? For if there is no
resurrection of the dead, then of course Christ (who was
a man and who died) was not raised; and if Christ was
not raised, then the preaching of myself and the other
apostles is a preaching of what is untrue, and our faith
has no basis in fact, and it must follow that we are de-
ceivers, false witnesses, speaking in God's name what we
know to be untrue, who at last are being found out ; for
we have been witnessing, not for, but against God, that
he raised up Christ, whom of course he did not raise up
if the dead cannot be raised. But not only are we apos-
tles falsifiers in that case, but look at the result upon your
religion : for if the dead are not raised, as I said before,
Christ, being a man, was not raised ; and if Christ was not
raised, not only must your faith, like our preaching, be
without any reasonable foundation, but it has no practical
value. It is not only false, but useless and without any
result. For your faith is that in Christ you have been
freed from sin, have . been reconciled to God, have been
given a new motive and power in life, have been raised
out of the foul air of evil to the high atmosphere of purity
in Christ. But if Christ did not rise, which would prove
-at least the possibility of the resurrection, then your faith
has no such result as you suppose, for you are still in
your sins. But worse than that, those of your dear ones
who have fallen asleep, the first generation of our Chris-

THE RESURRECTION. 329

tian dead, Stephen whose face shone like an angel's,
James the brother of John, who also won the martyr's
crown, these are not, as we supposed, freed from sin and
entered into glory, but in the other world find their hope
an illusion, find themselves still in sin, find themselves
perishing in eternal death. So, to sum up, if all there is
to faith is merely to have hope for the present, only at
last to discover that our hope was baseless, then of all
men in existence we Christians are the most to be pitied.
Far more fortunate than we are those who have no hope
and consequently no disappointment, if we build the
structure of faith, only at last to have it vanish like a
bubble.'*

That is a passage in every way worthy of the keen
and honest mind of the great apostle. Notice several
things about it.

1. Paul does not confuse the resurrection of the dead
with the immortality of the soul. The two are not the
same, nor are the proofs for one the proofs for the other.
Not a small number of scientific men hold that there are
certain scientific arguments which give to the doctrine of
the immortality of the soul a very high degree of proba-
bility. They hold that it can be reasonably proven en-
tirely without respect to Scripture. But the doctrine of
the resurrection of the body is wholly a matter of revela-
tion. We would not have guessed it, or come at it in
any other way, unless God through his inspired apostles
had told us. The soul might conceivably be immortal
and still there not necessarily be any resurrection of the
body. It is only the second point that the apostle has
here in mind.

2. Paul reasons closely in pressing the necessary
conclusion from Christ's rising. If we make a universal

330 HINTS AND HELPS.

negative statement of any sort, and one instance to the
contrary is ever found, the whole statement is disproven.
There is a law that inorganic matter cannot of itself turn
into organic. But if anybody ever saw a single handful
of earth, of itself, without the gift of any external germ,
turn into some form of life, the law that inorganic matter
cannot of itself become organic would be disproven. We
say that all men must die. But a solitary instance where,
without divine intervention, one did not die, would ex-
plode that '' must." So when it is said that the resurrec-
tion of the dead is impossible, a solitary instance to the
contrary is enough to show that it is possible. If Christ
rose, then so may we.

3. Paul exhibits the noble liberality of the real seeker
after truth. He was not the man to suggest that so long
as an illusion does no harm it is all right to leave it undis-
turbed. Some men say, ''We have risen above Christian
credulity, but so long as you Christians are satisfied in
your pleasant dream and it does you no harm, we will
not be cruel enough to disillusion you." Is this honesty ?
Is this respect for truth ? No. It is the degradation of
intelHgence. Paul says frankly, " If Christ did not rise
from the dead, then I am a liar ; and not an unconsciously
deceived Har, but a dehberate, wilful one."

4. Paul shows that the resurrection of Christ is a
chief part of Christian preaching. This is corroborated
by looking over the New Testament. When an apostle
was chosen to take Judas' place, Matthias was named be-
cause he was a witness of Christ's resurrection. (Acts
1 : 22.) When Peter addressed the multitude at Pente-
cost, he discoursed on the resurrection. (Acts 2 : 24.)
When he spoke to the crowd after having healed the
lame man at the gate of the Temple, he mentioned the

THE RESURRECTION. '331

resurrection. (Acts 3: 15.) When he was arrested and
brought before the Sanhedrin, he told them of the resur-
rection. (Acts 4:10.) When he was imprisoned and
forbidden to preach, he said he must preach the resur-
rection. (Acts 5 : 30.) At Caesarea his theme is the
same. (Acts 10 : 40.) Paul preached on the same sub-
ject at Antioch in Pisidia. (Acts 13:30.) And it was
his reference to Christ's resurrection that caused his
speech on Mars' Hill to seem ridiculous to the Athe-
nians. (Acts. 17:31.) So the fact of Christ's resurrec-
tion lies at the very foundation of Christianity. To be a
Christian means in part to believe that Christ rose from
the dead ; and if Christ did not rise from the dead, Chris-
tianity is a falsehood. Then no religion at all is possible,
for we have found this to be the highest; and if this must
go, the world will never content itself with anything
lower. Surely, if Christ did not rise, we are, of all men,
most miserable.

Paul now turns away from the dark prospect of this
negative argument to state a positive argument. This is
double : first, because as by one man the evil entered
which we know to be in the world,- so also, unless the
universe be altogether dark and hopeless, by one man
there must be a restoration of some sort : '' Christ, in
virtue of his incarnation, is the new head of humanity."
(J. C. Edwards.) He became like us in order that we
might become like him. The human race fell ; the race
rises; and in its rising it must have all the natural ele-
ments of humanity which it had in its fall. The second
part of Paul's positive argument comes from his belief in
God and his sovereignty. If there is a God he must be
a ruler. He must be able to subject all things to himself
If he lifts man, he must be able to transform him. If he

332 HINTS AND HELPS.

gives him freedom, he must be able to conquer all the op-
ponents that man has. Christ conquers all things and
last the greatest enemy of all, death, is conquered, be-
cause even that outer destruction, which is so terrible a
sign of death's power, is overcome by the resurrection.
And so Christ, having conquered all things, submits to
God, and God is at last all in all (vv 20-28).

Paul had shown at first a dark picture. He had
filled his canvas with misery. Now he dips his brush in
gold-dust, and with a shout of triumph he dashes its
glory all over the black picture of despair. That picture
is false. '' For the truth is, Christ has been raised from
the dead, the first-fruits, the earnest of the rising of mil-
lions who have fallen asleep. He is the pledge because
he is the cause." (Edwards.) For as the race fell
through man, it needs redemption through man. As it
was through one man, Adam, that death came to all, so
through one man, Christ, all shall be made alive. But
there is order in the universe. Being rises in tiers. Be-
tween God above and man below, partaking with both,
stands Christ. Each takes his own place in the order of
events. First, Christ rises from the dead, the mediator,
the first-fruits ; then they that are Christ's at his coming.
Then cometh the end, the close of history, when Christ
shall deliver up the kingdom which he hath conquered
to God, even the Father, when he shall have brought to
naught all hostile angelic rule, authority, and power.
For Christ must reign until he hath put all his enemies
under his feet. The last enemy that shall be brought to
naught is death.

To a mind without religion this second positive
argument of Paul's means nothing. But in his first (nega-
tive) argument he supposed the need of religion. We

THE RESURRECTION. 333

want Christ. We must have him. But to beheve Christ
involves beheving in his resurrection. What that resur-
rection means in the sphere of rehgion Paul shows. It
means the complete renewal of humanity, which is the
aim of all religion ; and a renewal which is complete must
take cognizance of the body. Then with a grand out-
look over all history and its meaning, with a belief that
God is king, Paul sees at last the great spectacle of God's
.perfect reign over all things, in which death must be in-
cluded. If one believes in a future for hum.anity, when
all its present limitations shall be destroyed ; and if he
believes that God reigns, that there is an unceasing pur-
pose running through the ages, he is driven to the expec-
tation that death shall at last be conquered ; which cannot
be true unless the havoc death has wTought be overcome
and the body be restored.

PauFs argument, when we thus come to understand
it, speaks for itself Nevertheless some things in it de-
serve special emphasis.

1. Christ's resurrection is a fact. We say is rather
than was, because he now has in glory the same resur-
rection body once seen on earth. The fact began to be
eighteen hundred years ago, but continues still in his
possession of the same body. We may be touching
something mysterious here, but that a thing is mysterious
is nothing whatever against its being true, nor against our
acceptance of it as true, since not a thousandth part of
the things we know do we understand.

2. Christ's resurrection is an integral part of Chris-
tianity. Prof Huxley tells us it is foolish for us Chris-
tians to stake our religion upon the verity of one fact, and
that so hard to accept. Nevertheless, that is just what we
do, and we challenge any one to prove the fact untrue,

334 HINTS AND HELPS.

and promise if he succeeds to give up our religion. We
could not do this were we not, with Paul, convinced in
experience that Christianity is true.

But there could be no Christianity without Christ
having risen. He rose not only to prove his still being
in existence, but in rising he accomplished a saving work.
If he had not risen salvation would not have been fully
accomplished. Because one part of the power of sin
(that, namely, by which it produces physical death) would
not have been overcome. When Christ rose all of sin's
power was crushed.

3. Our own resurrection accordingly is a necessary
part of our Christian hope. Perhaps we have fancied that
immortality without any body would be enough for us.
But our triumph is not complete, and our existence is not
fully rounded out, until we have the body that shall be.

4. What is that resurrection body? God has not
told us all we sometimes would like to know about it.
But we know (a) that it will be a body, something in ad-
dition to the soul, (b) that it will be spiritual, conformed
to the spiritual nature of our being, and* (c) that it will
have some identity with the body we now have, although
he would be bold who would undertake to go beyond
Scripture and say exactly in what that identity will con-
sist. But there is no doubt that Christ carried into glory
with him a body which in some sense could be called the
same which felt the nails and the spear.

THE GRACE OF LIBERALITY. 335

THE GRACE OF LIBERALITY.

2 Cor. 8:1-12.

The Christians of the Jerusalem church were in sore
trouble. A feeble folk at the best, they were now reduced
to an extremity by famine. At this juncture the advan-
tage of Christian fellowship was brought into clear light.
Paul and Barnabas took it upon themselves, by divine
appointment, to call upon the more favored brethren for
help (Acts 11:27-30). They received prompt contri-
butions from the churches in Achaia, also from those in
Macedonia (Rom. 15:26). A strong appeal was made
to the churches of Galatia (i Cor. 16: i). The congre-
gation at Rome, made up largely of Gentiles, some of
whom were wealthy and influential, was exhorted to do
its part (Rom. 15:27). And in the Scripture before us
the matter is presented to the Corinthian Christians in a
way to stir their deepest and most substantial sympathy.
It was a splendid opportunity for displaying the genuine-
ness of Christian unity, '' the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace,'' and the churches were not slack to im-
prove it. Gifts were proffered before the asking, contri-
butions were pressed upon the commissioners '' with much
entreaty " (2 Cor. 8 : 4), and the outsiders at Jerusalem
were given to understand in a most conclusive way that
the fellowship of Christ's disciples was not an empty boast.
In the generous gift of the Gentile Christians of Corinth
they perceived that the middle walls of partition had
indeed been broken down and that Jew and Gentile were
kinsmen in Christ Jesus. "Behold," said they, ''how
these brethren love one another." And this was an in-

33^ HINTS AND HELPS.

controvertible token of practical Christianity. Our po-
lemics and apologetics may be answered ; but the world
keeps silence while we sing,

'*We share our mutual woes,
Our mutual burdens bear.
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear."

In appealing to the Corinthian church the apostle
makes mention of the liberaHty of their brethren in Mace-
donia, hoping thus to provoke them to good works. He
relates " how that in a great trial of affliction the abund-
ance of their joy and deep poverty abounded unto the
riches of their liberality." For at the very time when
these Macedonians were sending on their gifts to Jerusa-
lem they themselves were groaning under a two-fold yoke
of poverty and persecution. Nevertheless they furnished
forth a pattern of benevolence. First, they gave volun-
tarily. They did not need to be exhorted ; they did not
even wait to be asked. They were '' wilHng of them-
selves " and prayed the apostles " with much entreaty to
receive the gift." They gave with spontaneity, with good
cheer, with abandon. They gave not as a deep well gives
to the toiler at the windlass, but as a fountain gives to the
wounded hart that stands panting at its brink. Second,
they gave largely : '' to their power, yea, and beyond it."
It is easy to give out of one's abundance, but out of one^s
poverty — ah, there's the trial of it When David was
offered the ground for his altar as a gratuity he refused
it, saying, *' I will not offer unto the Lord that which doth
cost me nothing " (2 Sam. 24 : 24). Most of us would have
thanked Araunah and accepted it ; but in so doing we would
have lost the sweet savor of devotion. God does not want

THE GRACE OF LIBERALITY. 337

our crippled Iambs and the superflux of our harvests. Self-
denial is the first step in consecration. The virtue of sac-
rifice lies largely in the cost of it. And thirds they gave
from principle. The beginning of their generosity and its
motive and inspiration lay in this, that '' they first of all
gave their own selves to the Lord." After that every-
thing was easy. When self is given, time and talent and
treasure flow naturally to the Master's feet. We are his,
and all that we have or hope to have, all that we are or
hope to be, belong of right to him. We are his ; and
his disciples, who are our brethren in the fellowship of faith,
are entitled to the kinsman's portion. But in default of
the initial gift, if self be withheld at the outset, in every-
thing w^e are small and stingy, reluctant and parsimonious
for evermore.

Great givers and blessed were those poor, persecuted
Christians of Macedonia, fit to be held up at Corinth as
patterns of liberality, and quite worthy to set the example
for us in these last days. In pursuance of Paul's exhorta-
tion let us apply ourselves for a few moments to the ratio-
nale of giving. Let us note some of the reasons why
God's people, '' as they abound in everything, in faith, in
utterance, in knowledge, in diligence, and in brotherly
love, should abound in this grace also."

First, because giving is a grace. It is not a mere
adjunct or incident of the Christian life, but one of its car-
dinal and essential graces. Whether a disciple of Christ
shall make a practice of giving or not is no more an open
question than whether he shall pray or not. The rule of
holy living is never selfishness, but always self-forgetful-
ness. ** If you wish to be miserable," says Charles Kings-
ley, ''you must think about yourself — about what you
want, what you like, what respect people ought to pay to

Hints and Helps. 2 2

338 HINTS AND HELPS.

you, what people think of you ; then you will spoil every-
thing you touch and be as miserable as you choose/*
Contrariwise, if you want to feel Hke a Christian you must
catch the Christian spirit of expenditure, of communica-
tion (i Tim. 6 : i8), of dividing up self for others as if self
were a loaf and all the world were hungry. This was the
mind that was in Christ Jesus and this must be the dispo-
sition of those who follow him.

Second^ it is in the line of common honesty. We are
stewards of the gifts of God. The silver and the gold are
his. We hold nothing in fee simple, not even our houses
and lands ; for God gave us brain and sinew to acquire
them. In common life we visit no class of malefactors
with a greater measure of odium than unfaithful stewards,
such as are false to trusts reposed in them. We need to
realize more and more that our relation to God with re-
spect to our possessions is that of stewardship, and in that
capacity to quit ourselves as honest men. Is it not strange
that we should speak of " our " houses and barns, '' our "
bonds and mortgages, " our '* principal and interest ? Is
it not strange that men, professing to be rigidly honest—
who would rather a finger should be severed from their
right hand than that their note should go to protest — will
yet appropriate to their own uses year after year the earn-
ings which belong to God?

Third, giving is a fruitful source of happiness. '' It
is more blessed,'* said the Master, '' to give than to re-
ceive." And this is the testimony of all who have ever
tried it.

** The old squire said, as he stood by his gate
And his neighbor the deacon went by,

* In spite of my bank-stock and real estate,
You 're better off, deacon, than I.

THE GRACE OF LIBERALITY. 339

** * We 're both growing old and the end 's drawing near ;
You have less of this world to resign ;
But in heaven's appraisal your assets, I fear,
Will reckon up greater than mine.

" ' They say I am rich, but I 'm feeling so poor
I wish I could swap with you even,
The pounds I have Hved for and laid up in store
For the shillings and pence you have given.' "

A hundred years ago the Rev. Thomas Gibbons
preached and wrote poetry ; but of his sermons and poems
all that remains worth remembering is this verse :

** That man may last, but never lives.
Who much receives but nothing gives ;
Whom none can love, whom none can thank,
Creation's blot, creation's blank."

Fourth^ giving is a means of getting. Let us observe
the testimony of Scripture on this point, '' Trust in the
Lord and do good ; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and
verily thou shalt be fed/* " Honor the Lord with thy
substance and with the first-fruits of all thine increase ; so
shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall
burst out with new wine." '' There is that scattereth and
yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is
meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be
made, fat ; and he that watereth shall be watered also him-
self." " He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to the
Lord ; and that which he hath given He will pay him
again." *' And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in
obscurity and thy darkness be as noonday, and the Lord
shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought, and make fat thy bones ; and thou shalt be wa-
tered like a garden, and Hke springs of water, whose

340 HINTS AND HELPS.

waters fail not.'^ " Bring ye all the tithes into the store-
house, that there may be meat in my house ; and prove
me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a
blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he
shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall
your vine cast her fruit, before the time in the field, saith
the Lord of hosts." " Give, and it shall be given unto
you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together
and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure ye mete withal, it shall be meas-
ured to you again." '' I have showed you all things, how
that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said. It
is more blessed to give than to receive." ^' Every man
according as he purposeth in his heart so let him give ;
not grudgingly or of necessity ; for God loveth a cheerful
giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to-
wards you ; that ye always having all-sufficiency in all
things may abound to every good work."

Mr. Thomas Kane, who has devoted his life to the
study of systematic benevolence, says, " My belief is that
God blesses in temporal as well as in spiritual things the
man who honors him by setting apart a stated portion of
his income to his service. I have never known an excep-
tion. Have you ?"

It is a true proverb, " There is that scattereth and yet
increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is
meet and it tendeth unto poverty." (Prov. 1 1 : 24.)
John Bunyan wrote,

" A man there was, and people called him mad,
The more he gave away the more he had/'

THE GRACE OF LIBERALITY. 341

Is it not always so? How else shall we construe the
promise, '' Blessed is the liberal man ; his horn shall be
exalted '' ? No man ever yet grew poor by lending to
the Lord. In an English graveyard is this quaint epitaph,
dated A. D. 1579:

**Who! who! who's here?
I, Robert of Doncaster.
That I spent, that I had ;
That I gave, that I have ;
That I left, that I lost."

Ft/^ky this is the noblest end of money -making. Some
men get to hoard. These are misers. They are con-
sumed by auri sacra fames^ the accursed hunger of gold.
Others get to spend. They value money for what it will
purchase of the comforts and pleasures of life. If this
however be carried to excess it makes self-pleasing our
supreme end. Still others get to give. So the apostle
exhorts the reformed idler of Ephesus to '' work with his
own hands, that he may have to give to him that needeth."
(Eph. 4: 28). Our accumulations of wealth, great or lit-
tle, can find no better use than in the relief of indigence
and the propagation of the gospel.

" But for one end are riches worth your care :
To make humanity the minister
Of bounteous Providence."

Sixth, our giving is God's method for the conver-
sion of the world. It is God's purpose that all nations
should be evangelized. But there are still multitudes who
dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Why ? God
works through human instrumentalities. He is waiting
until we are ready. Our wealth must furnish the sinews
of the holy war. The average contribution of American

342 HINTS AND HELPS.

Christians for foreign missions is about ten cents a year.
This is so far short of the requirement that it merely serves
to reveal their failure to comprehend the situation. Their
parsimony shuts the gates of heaven and keeps the world
in darkness. Whenever God's people are everywhere
and every way ready to do their part, the '' restitution of
all things " will speedily come. But ten cents a year will
not accomplish it. We are greatly distressed for the
heathen, just as the disciples were for the hungry multi-
tude in the desert place. "Give ye them to eat,'' said
Jesus. " Give ye the gospel to the nations," he says to us.

"All that united Protestant Christendom raises an-
nually for missions," says Joseph Cook, " would not pay
the liquor bill of the United States for three days, nor that
of the British Islands for two. At the opening of the cen-
tury all Protestant Christendom expended only $250,000
annually for missions. To-day it expends $7,500,000.
This is a large sum, you think. A mere bagatelle. The
dissipations of Saratoga and Newport would hardly find
this sum worth mentioning in the hugeness of their ex-
penses for self-gratification." We are accustomed to
pray, "Thy kingdom come." God's kingdom will come
whenever we really want it to come. Our gifts are the
token of our sincerity. Our money will answer our prayer.

The great sin of Christendom to-day is withholding
from the Lord. When Cortes marched into Mexico with
his rapacious army he told the natives he was afflicted
with a disease which nothing but gold could cure. Alas
that the same disease should have infected the followers
of Christ. His word is, " Go sell all that thou hast, and
come and follow me." He will never possess our hearts
nor use us wholly to his glory until we shall cast out
Briareus with his hundred hands.

THE GRACE OF LIBERALITY. 343

Seventh, the example of Christ teaches us ta give.
He was the greatest of givers. He gave everything he
had for our deliverance from sin and death. He gave his
time, his physical and mental strength, his personal endow-
ments of every sort, his life, himself He came from heaven
to give good gifts to men — sight to the blind and hearing
to the deaf, peace to the troubled soul, rest to the weary
and heavy laden, the song of salvation to such as were
sitting in the shadow of death. Loving to give, he freely
gave us all. And what shall we render unto him ? Are
gold and frankincense and myrrh too precious to lay before
him ? Is ointment of spikenard too costly for the anoint-
ing of his feet — the feet that were shod with the sandals of
salvation and pierced with nails that retribution had forged
for us ? The gift of God is eternal Hfe through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Is anything too good for him ?

344 HINTS AND HELPS.

IMITATION OF CHRIST.

Eph. 4:20-32.

The epistles of Paul are pervaded by the suggestion
of two personalities in the believer, the old man and the
new man. The old man is corrupt according to the lusts
of deceit, while the new man is after God created in
righteousness and true holiness. The new man is born at
conversion, and thenceforward there is a conflict in the
double self The old man is moribund. The process of
death is going on in him continually. The new man
grows m.ore and more into the likeness of Christ. The
new man is progressively renewed after the image of Him
who created him. (Col. 2:10.) The old man is cruci-
fied with Christ ; the new man lives, lives with growing
fulness of life, and the life which he lives is by faith in
the Son of God. The old man is wedded to sin and
shame ; the new man is an heir of life and immortaHty.
The old man is a hoary reprobate; the new man is
destined to live for ever with the beauty of an immortal
youth.

It is easy to mark this double personality in the apos-
tle himself The old man is Saul of Tarsus, proud of his
birth and lineage, proud of his learning, self-opinionated,
trained in the barren ceremonial of Jewish worship, a hater
and persecutor of the Christians, breathing out slaughter
against them. The new man is the apostle Paul, brought
out of darkness into light and made acquainted with Jesus
as his Saviour and Friend, counting all things but loss

IMITATION OF CHRIST. 345

that he may win Christ, making light of his Jewish in-
heritance, his rhetorical culture, and his philosophy, that
he may know Christ and him crucified. The new man,
Paul, is constantly striving with the old man, Saul. The
new man born unto spiritual life is ever keeping his body
under. Two wills are at work (for what I would, that do
I not ; but what I hate, that do I). But every day marks
a distinct progress leading on to an ultimate triumph.
The old man must dwindle and die ; the new man will
attain unto the fulness of the stature of Christ.

Paul is writing to the Christians at Ephesus. They
were exposed to peculiar temptations. The church of Eph-
esus was under the very shadow of the splendid temple of
the great Diana. The people who worshipped Christ in
Ephesus were witnesses of the imposing rites and cere-
monies and the magnificent games in honor of the pagan
goddess. Their temptation was to conform their lives to
the idolatrous and pleasure-seeking customs of their heath-
en neighbors. It was easy then, as it is to-day, to fall into
line and keep step with the multitude in the fashions of
the hour. But the line of demarcation between a Christian
and a pagan life must be observed. There was a differ-
ence. The Christians of Ephesus must be guarded. Paul
begs them to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they
are called ; to walk not as other Gentiles walked, in the
vanity of their mind. Then comes this injunction con-
cerning the putting off of the old man with his deceitful
lusts, and the putting on of the new man, who after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness.

It is related of Cato that he never spoke in the Senate,
never worshipped at the altar, rarely conversed with his
fellow-citizens, without uttering the words, " Delenda est
Carthago !" '' Carthage must be destroyed !'' He hated

346 HINTS AND HELPS.

Carthage as the deadly rival of Rome. Both could not
live and prosper. The world was not wide enough to
contain these two implacable foes. As the disciples of
Christ it behooves us to take a like stand in behalf of truth
and righteousness, and to pledge undying enmity against
our unregenerate nature. Let the old man die the death,
that we may be ever more and more renewed in the spirit
of our minds.

He who i§ truly converted is ever conscious of this
conflict between his spiritual nature and the remnant of
his former unregenerate self. His growth is measured by
his earnestness to put away his former conversation which
was *' corrupt according to the deceitful lusts," and to fos-
ter the new man which is created after God. The new
birth is rightly so called. At our conversion old things
pass away, all things become new. The heart of stone is
supplanted by a heart of*flesh ; the will, the heart, the con-
science are made over after God. A young girl who was
converted under Whitefield's preaching was asked at her
examination for admission to the church, *^ Have you a
new heart?" She answered, '^ I cannot tell whether it is
a new heart or not ; something is new, I know. Every-
thing seems new ; the sun shines brighter, the grass seems
greener, the whole world is sweeter and better since I
found the Saviour." And the more we know of Him, the
truer is it that old things pass away and all things become
new. Observe here some of the characteristics of the new
man.

I. Truth. '* Put away lying," said the apostle ; ** speak
every man truth with his neighbor ; for we are members
one of another." Truth is a debt that we owe to society,
yet we are none of us as candid as we ought to be. The
common sin is hypocrisy, for

IMITATION OF CHRIST. 347

"All the world 's a stage,

And all the men and women are merely plaj^ers.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts."

This is true in all departments of life, in business, in soci-
ety, in politics, ay, even in the church. Froude says, '' I
have heard thousands of sermons and discourses and hom-
ihes on Faith, on the Apostolic Succession, on the Effi-
cacy of the Sacrament, but never during these thirty won-
derful years, never that I can recollect, one on that prim-
itive commandment, 'Thou shalt not lie;' yet we have
lying all around us, false weights, false measures, and
shoddy everywhere." Let us who are Christians and fol-
lowers of Christ unmask ; let us be what we seem to be ;
let our lives be transparent as the light. Here is -our
prayer :

*' Lord, make me like thyself,
Lord, make me be myself,
Seeming as one who lives for thee,
And being what I seem to be."

IL Equanimity. '' Be ye angry, and sin not; let not
the sun go down upon your wrath : neither give place to
the devil." Let it be noted that Christian equanimity
is not stoicism. The Stoic met his fate with indiffer-
ence, because there was no escaping from it. So the
Brahmin, the twice-born Yogi, sits by the wayside breath-
ing the dust raised by the passing sacred cows and mut-
tering to himself the sacred syllable Oum over and over
and over again, indifferent to all things around him. The
-Vedas are open upon his knees ; he is losing himself in
Brahm. You may affront him as you will, hurl mJssiles
at him ; no matter, still he gazes before him and mutters
Oum, oum, oum. This is not equanimity, but stolidity,

348 HINTS AND HELPS.

mere phlegm, as far removed as possible from the mind
that was in Christ Jesus.

There are two sides to Christian equanimity : one side
of it is this, '' Be angry;'' the other side is this, ^' Sin not."
It is a man's duty to be angry whenever there is occasion
for it. There are things occurring every day that ought
to arouse our keenest indignation. But yesterday a rum-
seller whipped his boy with a rawhide until the welts on
his Hmbs had crippled him and the boy went hobbling
through the streets, screaming with pain, the blood trick-
Hng down over his feet. What sort of a man would he be
whose wrath would not be aroused by the brutality of
that inhuman father ? There are those on every side who
are laying snares for the unwary feet of youth, both boys
and girls, young men and maidens, in dives and gambling-
hells and dram-shops and nameless abodes of sin. What
sort of a Christian would he be who would not fall into
line with any movement looking towards their overthrow?
And there are public servants all the while engaged in
throwing the segis of the law over vices which are defying
the laws, and saying to the people, their masters, '' What
are you going to do about it ?" Over against these things
there must needs be a holy indignation. God is angry
with such iniquities and those who perpetrate them every
day.

"And being angry, sin not." Do no rash thing. Lynch
law may be as bad as the crime which it aims to punish.
Do all things justly. Cherish no grudge; hate the sin, but
reserve love for the sinner. " Let not the sun go down
upon thy wrath." The Jews, who were accustomed to re-
peat this proverb, thought that wrath at eventide would
spoil the evening sacrifice. Our Lord hung dying on the
cross, and as the day wore on and the time of the evening

IMITATION OF CHRIST. 349

sacrifice drew near, he uttered the prayer, *' Father, for-
give them, for they know not what they do/' Let this
mind which was in Christ Jesus be in all you who profess
to love him.

III. Occupation. "Let him that stole steal no more;
but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing
which is good, that he may have to give to him that need-
eth." Honesty and industry are true yoke-fellows. The
tramp is a thief To every man who enters into the fel-
lowship of Christ the same question is propounded which
met Jacob when he entered Egypt, " What is your occu-
pation ?"

It is significant that the Author and Finisher of our
Faith was a carpenter. He believed in the dignity of
labor. He entered into the fellowship of toilers. It is
difficult to see how any one can be a consistent follower
of Jesus unless with brain or brawn, or both, he joins " the
great fellowship of busy men."

What makes a man ? A hundred and fifty pounds
of bone and sinew do not make a man. A man is body
and soul in action. Every one of us is either a producer or
a cumberer of the ground. We are making the world bet-
ter by the expenditure of vital energy, or else we are liv-
ing by exaction upon it.

The time was when labor was disreputable, when
even lawyers and clergymen were under the patronage
of gentlemen, when brains were under servitude to pounds
and pence, and the physician, the squire, and the roving
tinker sat down together at the kitchen table. The
higher class were exempt from mental as well as physical
toil ; their days were spent in the chase and their nights
in wassail. If a young man were ambitious to make some-
thing of himself, to do something for the world, no field

350 HINTS AND HELPS.

was open to him but the lists of knighthood. He fixed a
plume in his hat, mounted a steed, and set out to tilt for the
honor of a lady's glove. Blessed be God we have come
upon better days. ^' The true epic of our times," says
Carlyle, '' is not *' arms and the man,' but tools and the
man." Let all the [followers of the Nazarene Carpenter
see to it that as becometh the new man who is created in
righteousness and true holiness, they lend themselves to
the advancement of the world's industry, each one of them
in his place having something to do and doing it well.

IV. Wholesome Speech. There is no single word
that will express it. Paul says, " Let no corrupt commu-
nication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is
good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace
unto the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God."

The gift of the Holy Ghost for the conversion of the
world is the gift of tongues. To speak unwisely, impurely,
or profanely is to grieve the Spirit of God.

The tongue is a httle member, but it boasteth great
things, for *^ behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths
that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Behold, also, the ships, which though they be so
great and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned
about with a very small helm whithersoever the governor
listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member and boast-
eth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire
kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity ;
so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the
whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature ; and
it is set on fire of hell." Jas. 3 : 3-6,

As our Lord was passing through the coasts of De-
capolis, one was brought to him who was deaf and had
an impediment in his speech, and he was besought to

IMITATION OF CHRIST. 35 1

heal him, but before saying, '' Ephphatha/* he looked up
to heaven and sighed. Why did Jesus sigh ? Was it
because of the responsibility of the gift of speech which he
was about to bestow upon this man ? Was it because he
surmised that it would not be used well and wholly to the
glory of God ? A follower of Christ cannot be over-care-
ful as to the manner of his speech. The lips that have
named the name of Jesus ought never to utter an untrue
or an impure thought. Corrupt communications have in
them enormous possibilities of evil. The wreckers who
kindle fire upon the headlands to lure unwary mariners
upon a dangerous coast are not more truly malignant
than such as pervert with corrupt speech the trembling
sailors threading the currents of social Hfe. For impurity
eats like a canker. It destroys the fine edge of character.

But words in due season, how good they are ! Words
of truth, of power, of purity, of sympathy,, how good they
are ! There comes to me at this moment through the gla-
mour of years a sweet face looking down into mine. I
feel the light hand upon my shoulder, I hear the encour-
aging word. It was spoken when I w^as a lad, long ago,
a kind word by the minister's wife, who thought to help
me in my new Christian life. Little she knew the good it
wrought. To-day that good word shines undimmed like
an apple of gold through the meshes of a silver basket.

V. Kindness. Kindness above all. " Let all bitter-
ness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you, with all malice : and be ye kind
one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." This
is the larger grace of the renewed life, this is the glory of
the new man in Christ Jesus, to do good. The law of
kindness is in his heart.

352 HINTS AND HELPS.

It is written that Christ himself went about doing good.
He was kindness itself to heal, to sympathize, to uplift and
strengthen. These were common events in his life. The
touch of his garment had virtue in it. '* If I may but
touch his garment, I shall be whole," said the woman with
the issue of blood, and she was right, for to touch him
was to receive the electric spark of virtue. No one can
touch Jesus to this day without feeling the divine life
surging into him and thrilHng through him. The apos-
tles of Jesus brought somewhat of this blessed gift from
him. It is written they brought forth the sick into the
streets, *'that at the least the shadow of Peter, passing
by, might overshadow some of them."

It is the part of every follower of Christ to use this
gracious gift. There is nothing in the world that warms
the heart like the doing of a gracious deed. The last
word of Charles V. of France was this : '' Kings are hap-
piest in doing good." We may go farther and say that
every man is most kingly, most Christlike, when the law
of kindness dwells in his heart and finds expression in his
unselfish life.

This, then, is the picture of the new man in Christ
Jesus. It is outlined as the silhouette of Christian charac-
ter. The new man in Christ Jesus is the best expression
of human character, because he is the nearest approach to
Christ himself, who is the ideal man. To set forth these
graces of character is to be a constant though possibly
unconscious dispenser of inestimable good. Forty years
ago a young man appHed to one of our Boards of Foreign
Missions for an appointment as missionary to India. In
natural gifts and education he was so far below the usual
requirements that his application was refused at once. But,
persisting, he entreated that he might go. At last, by
reason of his intense desire and fervent piety and zeal.

IMITATION OF CHRIST. 353

his prayer was granted. His first effort on reaching the
field was to master the native tongue. It was hard work.
Months and years passed by, and his dull intellect seemed
like a sieve : he could not acquire the language. At last,
after five years, he gave up in despair, and wrote a letter
to the Board humbly confessing his failure and asking to
be recalled. But in the meantime the native Christians
had seen his godly character and life and had learned to
love him. By the same vessel that brought his letter to
the Board they also sent a letter earnestly protesting
against his departure, saying that his life among them in
its purity and benevolence was a mightier argument for
the truth than learning or eloquence could be, and that
even the heathen had come to respect him as a godly
man. He was allowed to remain. Multitudes of souls were
given him for his hire, and his memory is fragrant in that
far-off land unto this day. Verily, he has been a living
epistle, known and read of all men.

Our most eloquent sermon is holiness, our grandest
miracle a spotless character. The sum of all duties is
comprehended in the precept '' Let your light shine."
Christ is the Sun of Righteousness ; our influence for good
is but a torch kindled at that Sun. Our Uves will be holy
and unconsciously beneficent and immortal for good so
far forth as they are inspired from that perfect life. To be
good is to do good. Our souls washed in the atoning
blood and made whiter than snow, and thereupon im-
pressed with all the beauty of the Christian character, we
cannot then but show forth the virtue and omnipotence of
the gospel to make men partakers of eternal life.

23

354 HINTS AND HELPS.

THE CHRISTIAN HOME.

Col. 3:12-25.

This Epistle was written by Paul when a prisoner at
Rome. He was much concerned for "the saints and
faithful brethren which were at Colossae." Their pastor
Epaphras had informed him as to their spiritual welfare
and had probably advised with him as to certain evils
which prevailed among them. This was the immediate
occasion of the earnest injunctions and admonitions with
which this Epistle abounds. The portion of it which here
engages our attention touches life along its whole circum-
ference, but a useful purpose may be served in limiting
its application to the duties of the social and domestic
circle.

The Christian home — an essential outgrowth of the
gospel — lies at the centre of the best civihzation the world
has ever known.

There are dweUings which cannot be called homes.
The word suggests something more than four walls and a
roof Home is indeed a dormitory and a refectory, a cas-
tle for security, a cloister for seclusion, but something still
beyond. It is the trysting-place of love ; it is the House
Beautiful on earth^s highest mountain-top, with its win-
dows open to the eastern sun. We wander into countries
far away, but on quiet evenings to the end of life we sing
fondly and regretfully of " Home, sweet home." Lowly
it may have been, but it held our loved ones. In lieu of
rare carvings and tapestries we recall the great open fire-
place, the well-sweep, the hollyhocks and sweet-williams
in mother's garden. Ah, *' be it ever so humble, there 's

THE CHRISTIAN HOME. 355

no place like home !' The thought of its restfulness
lightens our burdens and relieves our cares. The plough-
man catching sight of it at the hill's brow whistles as he
pursues his task.

*' His wee bit ingle, blinkin' bonnily,
His clean hearth-stane, his thriftie wifie's smile,*
The lisping infant prattling on his knee,
Does a' his weary, carking care beguile,
An' makes him quite forget his labor and his toil."

One of the best tests of personal religion is found in
the home-life. No spiritual diagnosis is complete or
conclusive until it has opened up a man's behavior in his
domestic relations. Indeed, our religion is meant to
touch life at every point, to make us better friends and
neighbors, better citizens, better cosmopolites. But home
is, in a sense, the centre of the circle. Tell us what sort
of a husband and father a man is and we can easily fill up
the silhouette of his character. The injunctions of Paul,
therefore, in this particular are of no slight importance.
The precepts that were helpful to the early Christians are
not obsolete. Our homes are disturbed by the same in-
trusive faults that chilled the atmosphere and dimmed the
lights in the homes of Colossse : nor have we any errata
or addenda to affix to Paul's list of the domestic virtues.
Let us briefly observe them ; for therein lies the secret of
a happy home.

First, love. If love be absent all other graces are
like a chorus without a choragos. " Put on therefore, as
God's elect, the vital mercies of compassion." A home
without kindness is a misnomer. The love of husband
and wife, the love of parents and children, the love of
brothers and sisters, these are fire on the hearth, lights on
the mantel, and pictures on the walls. If these are want-

3S6 HINTS AND HELPS.

ing the family circle is as dissonant and unhappy as an ill-
assorted litter. The first duty in this relation is to keep
sweet ; and a sweet disposition is the outward showing of
a heart well and kindly inclined towards all.

Second^ '' humbleness of mind ^ This is not servility.
We may be humble and still self-respectful. True humil-
ity is based upon a right estimate of one's relative impor-
tance. Rights we have ; but so have others. The mo-
ment we insist upon a right which trenches on our neigh-
bor's we are guilty of arrogance. Humility does not
grovel, but it steps aside and gives half the path to a
fellow-traveller. John Milton speaks of "that lofty lowli-
ness of mind which is exalted by its own humihation."
This spirit is essential to domestic concord. The comfort
of a house where husband and wife are at variance and
children clamor for their own is scarcely to be preferred
to that of a sty at feeding-time. The very youngest —
'' Philip, my king " — is oftentimes spoiled for life by an
undue humoring of his pettish whims. The secret of
domestic peace lies largely in a just recognition of mutual
relations, a proper deference of the younger to the elder,
and wisdom on the part of every member of the house-
hold not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think. ''Each in his place" is a maxim that might well
accompany the legend '' God bless our home !"

Thirds long-suffering. The apostle deems this wor-
thy of amplification in the words, " forbearing one an-
other, if any of you have a quarrel against any ; even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye." There is constant
need of the exercise of this grace in our social and domes-
tic relations. For, alas, love we never so fervently, the
quarrel is like to come. This has been known to occur
even in that heavenly circle known as '' the household of

THE CHRISTIAN HOME. 357

faith;" but whether at home or in the church, among
kinsfolk in the flesh or brethren in Christ, the preventive
is forbearance and the cure is forgiveness. He that is
slow to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. At a wedding
which the writer attended so long ago that it abides
among the earHest memories of his boyhood there was,
among the gifts offered to the newly-wedded pair, a mys-
terious box bearing the inscription *' Two Bears." On
being opened it was found to contain two rude ursine effi-
gies named respectively Bear and Forbear, If these were
kindly received and cared for at the fireside, it was claimed
by the facetious donor that there would be an unbroken
continuance of domestic peace.

Fourth, charity. "And above all these things put on
charity." This grace is called '' the bond of perfectness "
because it is the silver cord on which all pearls are
threaded (i Cor. 13). It is a larger grace than love, as
used in this connection, for it includes the loyalty of the
soul to God. If this be omitted there is no bond of per-
fectness; the home-life is Hable at any moment to fall asun-
der like an unstrung necklace. It is proper, therefore,
that under this head of charity the apostle should speak
of the family altar. '' Let the gospel dwell in you richly,"
he says, '' teaching and admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs." Nor is this enough:
" Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by him."

A glance through the window of a Christian home
reveals the father in the midst with ''the old ha' Bible " on
his knees. Enriched by the opening up of the hid treas-
ures of truth, all kneel in prayer ; and the voice of melo-

358 HINTS AND HELPS.

dious gratitude is lifted to Him who hath set the solitary
in families. The word of Christ dwelleth richly there in all
wisdom while they thus admonish one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs. And without this simple
" show of piety ^' (i Tim. 5 : 4) no home can be complete.
Without it the dwelling, however attractive, is a mere lodge
in a garden of cucumbers, and really no home at all.

It has been observed that the early churches all took
their rise in the worship of family groups. '' The church
in the house of Philemon " — that is, the little circle of
kinspeople and neighbors that gathered around his do-
mestic altar — grew into the church at Colossae. *^The
church in the house of Nymphas " was afterwards known
as the church at Laodicea ; while that in the tent-makers'
shop of Aquila diverged into two mighty channels of
influence in the churches of Rome and Ephesus. Thus
signally has God been pleased to honor the love —
that broad and comprehensive caritas — which admits him
into the most sacred and important circle of human life.
In the Old Economy as well as in the New his benedic-
tion has been upon it. For our family altar is but in
continuance of the duty that was imposed upon Israel
when they received the holy oracles: ^' Hear, O Israel!
The words which I command thee shall be in thy heart ;
and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.
Thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou Hest
down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind
them for a sign upon thy hand ; and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes ; and thou shalt write them
upon the posts of thy house and upon thy gates."

Fifth, peace. '' Let the peace of God rule in your
hearts." God's peace is most manifest in the presence of

THE CHRISTIAN HOME. 359

his well beloved Son whose name is Shiloh, " the Prince
of Peace/* The secret of domestic peace is to admit Him
and *'do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." All bless-
ings enter when he stands in the doorway saying, '' Peace
be within this house !" No storm beating on the roof, no
shadow — not even death's shadow— falling across the
threshold can disturb the sweet tranquillity of a true Chris-
tian home. The name of the Lord Jesus is a magical
safeguard against the sting of poverty and the chill of
sorrow, a bar against all weird and uncanny shapes that
stand waiting at the door. In the time of trouble he shall
hide thee in the secret of his pavilion. Happiness shall
linger though the cruse of oil and the barrel of meal are
gone. If the Ark of the Lord be under thy roof, the
blessings of Obed-Edom shall be with thee, and thy home
shall be a resting-place in the midst of the world's hurry-
ing life — like the moving tent of Abraham as he journeyed
towards the Land of Promise,

** A little spot inclosed by grace
Out of the world's vast wilderness.'*

If this ideal is to be fully realized it must be by cor-
dial cooperation. The various members of the household
from father down, as Paul teaches, must all contribute
towards it.

(i) The father, as head of the family, must be a just
and devout man. He is the house-band. To such the
apostle says, " Love your wives," and again, '' Provoke
not your children, lest they be discouraged." How often
churlish Nabal, returning from office or workshop tired
and worried and petulant, wearies the soul of poor, patient
Abigail and her children and drives out. peace and com-
fort like frightened birds. ** As coals are to burning coals

360 HINTS AND HELPS.

and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife "
(Prov. 26:21). Of all persons on earth the father of
a household has most occasion to '' study to be quiet "
and show forth the spirit which suffereth long and is kind.
As head of the household it devolves on him to lead the
way in illustrating those domestic graces of which Hannah
More wrote :

*' The angry word suppressed, the taunting thought,
Subduing and subdued the petty strife
Which clouds the color of domestic life.
The sober comfort, all the peace which springs
From the large aggregate of little things —
On these sftiall cares of daughter, wife, or friend
The almost sacred joys of home depend."

(2) And of the wife and mother what shall be said ?
Her throne is in the home-life. To her the apostle's first
word was, " Wives, submit yourselves unto your hus-
bands, as it is fit in the Lord," not surely with any thought
of natural inferiority but with particular reference to that
law of social order which everywhere prevents the clash of
authority by making one supreme. It has been observed
that the social and domestic life of the first century was
transformed by the placing of the married pair upon the
same relations towards each other as Christ and his church.
(Eph. 5 : 22-25).* It is difficult to see how any good and

* '*You see the rule of obedience? Well, hear also the
rule of love. Do you wish your wife to obey you as the church
obeys Christ ? Then take care for her as Christ did for the
church ; and even if you must give your life for her, or be cut in
a thousand pieces, or whatever you must undergo and suffer,
shrink not from it ; and even if you suffer all this, you have not
yet done anything that Christ did ; for you do this being already
joined in marriage to her, but he suffered for a bride who hated
and rejected him."— Chrysostom.

THE CHRISTIAN HOME. 361

true Christian woman can covet a sweeter or more honor-
able position than that which finds its best simiHtude in
the relation of the Church to the heavenly Bridegroom.
" I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me ; he
hath brought me unto the banqueting house, and his ban-
ner over me is love'' (Solomon's Song 2:1-4). In all
the world there is no picture more beautiful than that of
an aged husband and wife on their way with clasped
hands to the kingdom of God.

'*John Anderson, my jo, John,

We Ve clamb the hill thegither,
And mony a canty day, John,

We 've had wi* ane anither ;
Now we maun totter down, John ;

But hand in hand we '11 go,
And sleep thegither at the foot,

John Anderson, my jo."

The woman who is both wife and mother is sovereign
of two realms. Her children rise up and call her blessed.
Her face, though wrinkled and framed in gray, is to them
the sweetest and most lovable thing that ever returns
through the glamour of the past. The memory of her
words is an anchor that holds them fast to truth and
duty ; and the light of love from her dear eyes illuminates
the road to heaven. An irreligious mother loses the most
glorious and delightful opportunity that God has ever ac-
corded to a human soul. A Christian mother writes her
own virtues in indelible characters on coming generations.
The kings and statesmen of our time are but materializing
the dreams and visions of the good women of long ago.

(3) The injunction of Paul to the children is compre-
hended in one word — obedience. " Obey your parents in
all things ; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." The

362 HINTS AND HELPS.

Lord himself was an obedient child. It is written that he
was ** subject unto his parents " (Luke 2 :5i). It is much
to be feared that in our time too little emphasis is put
upon this duty. A simple, unquestioning, unhesitating
deference to parental authority is one of the characteristic
marks of the ideal Christian home. The promise of long
life is affixed to it ; and what more or better could be said
of it, by way of commendation, than that it ''is well-pleas-
ing unto the Lord " ? For to please him is the supreme
end and purpose of every noble life.

(4) Nor can the apostle dismiss his theme without
a word of kindly admonition to servants. '' Obey your
masters," he says, '' not with eye-service as men-pleasers,
but in singleness of heart, fearing God." The home is
affected as really by ill-doing in the kitchen as in the
drawing-room. If peace is to be an abiding presence,
godliness must reign from, end to end of the house.
From the head of the household to the scullery maid
a due regard must be paid to the precepts of an upright
life.

And hear now the summary: ''For ye serve the
Lord Christ." This is the conclusion of the whole matter.
Parents, children, servants, ye are all under him. Let,
therefore, the mind that was in Christ Jesus be also in
you. Then will the blessing of Obed-Edom the Gittite be
yours, of whom it is written, "The Lord blessed him and
his household ahd all that pertained unto him because of
the Ark of the Lord." Then will your house yield some-
what of the joy that shall be ours for ever in the Father's
house.

GRATEFUL OBEDIENCE. 363

GRATEFUL OBEDIENCE.

James i : 16-27.

Some one had been saying that God is the author of
sin and misery. There are people of our acquaintance
in these times who hold the same opinion. We are told
that Satan in his first estate was an angel of light dwelling
in the celestial glory and subject to no adverse influen-
ces ; for love and goodness filled the immeasurable realms
of space. Nevertheless he fell. How ? Out of nothing
nothing comes. Must there not have been something or
some one back of his fall ? We also are tempted* Trials
greater than we can bear are laid upon us. Our princi-
ples are put to a strain under which they bend and often-
times give way. We have sorrows that harden us. How
many in the darkness are provoked, like Job's wife, to
curse God ! Does our affliction come forth of the dust, or
does our trouble spring out of the ground ? If not,
whence is it ? And if God be not its author, why does he
not prevent it ? Thus the Gordian knot of providence is
tied so tight that apparently there is nothing to do but to
cut it ; and in the flash of the knife we read, ^* God is the
author of sin.'' —

Some one had been reasoning on this wise, had been
discussing the matter with other Christians, and the apos-
tle James overheard it. Hence this tender but effective
rebuke : Do not err, my beloved brethren ; it is the good
things and not the evil that come from God. Curb your
speech, lest ye be found vaporing against the Omniscient.
Lay apart all superfluity of self-will and receive his Word.
For truth is not evolved from within, but revealed from

364 HINTS AND HELPS.

on high. Therefore receive ye with meekness the en-
grafted word. And be ye not hearers only, but doers of
it. For reHgion is not a matter of the Hps ; it is life and
character.

In taking apart this admonition we discover three
injunctions which are well worth remembering for the
help which they furnish in theological controversy as well
as in the possibly more practical affairs of life.

First, be slow to speak. It is little enough that the
wisest can know of the divine dealings. '* God " is a little
word ; a breath utters it ; but all the impenetrable heights
and unfathomable depths of truth are contained in it.
Canst thou by searching find him out ? We mark the
tokens of his presence in nature, but even as we lift our
eyes the horizons recede and are lost in far-away haze.
We grope after him, and hearing the rustle of his gar-
ments, we reach out our hands, but lo, he is not there !
It is his glory to conceal a matter. A work wrought
by human hands can be torn asunder and analyzed ;
but God's work defies the microscope. The fleck on a
butterfly's wing is as wonderful as the map of the heav-
ens; the primordial germ is as incomprehensible as the
sum total of the material universe. Everything of God's
baffles us. And why not? He is the Infinite; we are
finite. Bridge that chasm and then presume to speak.
Until then the simplest of divine truths has in it the im-
penetrableness of the Sphinx's gaze. Who art thou that
repliest against God ? It is a cheap human trick to cut
the knot of existing evil by making God the author of it.
Go to his oracles and hearken; when they advise thee,
"be swift to hear:" when they are silent, ''be slow to
speak;" and always and everywhere be slow to utter
forth thy resentment against the infinite, eternal, and un-

GRATEFUL OBEDIENCE. 365

changeable One. For surely thy wrath can never make
thee righteous before him.

And whatsoever thou thinkest, he is ever good.
Every blessing cometh from him as the Father of lights.
The gifts of providence are from his open and bountiful
hand. As a Christian thou art put to an open shame in
attributing evil to him ; ^' for of his own will begat he us
with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-
fruits of his creatures." Goodness on goodness hath he
lavished upon us. God forbid then that we should be
found replying against him.

The second of the apostle's injunctions is this, ^^ Re-
ceive the word with meekness "—the word which is mighty
unto salvation when engrafted on or implanted in your
souls. A meek acceptance of the Scriptures would make
all heresies impossible. In one place the Saviour said,
" Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth ;"
but in many places he has said, " Blessed are the meek,
for they apprehend the truth as God reveals it."

Too often we approach the oracles as those who,
having opinions and prejudices, would fain confirm them.
So we read into the inspired pages a multitude of things
which were never inscribed there. The meek man's
method is exegesis ; the self-opinionated man's is eisege-
sis — he thrusts his own opinions into the Word of God.
By this latter we can make the Scriptures mean what we
please. The wish is father of the thought. If a man be
full of wisdom, when he comes to his Bible there is noth-
ing that his Bible can teach him. The Omniscient has no
revelation for the self-sufficient. All things are for him
who empties himself and comes meekly to inquire of God.

A true believer has no opinions which are at variance
with the Scriptures. They are his court of last appeal.

366 HINTS AND HELPS.

They do not '^ contain " truth ; they are truth. They do
not " contain " the word of God ; they are through and
through the word of God. He has accepted them in all
frankness as his only and infallible rule of faith and prac-
tice. They furnish his creed and code of morals. Any
opinion of his which contravenes them must go by the
board. The God in whom he believes is not a figment of
his imagination, but the God oudined in Holy Writ. His
views of doctrine — such as the Incarnation, the Atone-
ment, and Retributive Justice — are not a /r/^rf coinings
of his own, but truths from the treasury of Inspiration
marked with the image and superscription of the King.
He may think and investigate to the uttermost, but his
final test of truth is always, "' Thus saith the Lord.'' He
receives that dictum with meekness. The Scriptures are
Yea and Amen to him.

The third injunction is, " Be ye doers of the word
and 710 1 hearers only!' The faith which is gotten by lis-
tening at the oracles proves its authenticity and sincerity
by its resultant walk and conversation. A Jewish prov-
erb runs thus : ^' He who hears the law and does not prac-
tise it is like the man who ploughs and sows but never
reaps." A stronger figure still is that of the apostle:
*' He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a
glass ; for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." No
man ever yet looked into this Scriptural looking-glass
without seeing a sinner there. There is no difference in
the reflection, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. But there is a great difference in the out-
come. Some look, are temporarily impressed, turn their
eyes away, and blot out with the vision the remembrance
of it. Others look, are appalled, fall upon their knees,

GRATEFUL OBEDIENCE. 367

and resolve on amendment. To the former the Scrip-
tures are a savor of death unto death ; to the latter of life
unto life.

A tradeswoman once heard a sermon on the use of
dishonest weights and measures. Soon after the minis-
ter, in making the rounds of his parish^ called upon her,
and in the course of conversation asked her, as was his
custom, what she remembered of his sermon. She knit
her brows and taxed her wits in vain. Complaining
much of her failing memory, she added, '' But, sir, one
thing I remembered — I remembered to burn my bushel."
And in this she proved herself not a forgetful hearer of
the word but a doer of it.

This is the touchstone of sincerity. Faith, if it abide
alone, is dead. A creed on parchment is of itself as val-
ueless as a certificate of stock in King Solomon's mines.
Nor is mere profession enough. The largest trumpets
are poorest for articulation. Not every one that saith
unto me, '' Lord ! Lord !" shall enter into the kingdom.
Preachers may be castaways. Hypocrites m.ake loudest
confessions and longest prayers. '' If any man among
you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue, but
deceiveth his own heart, that man's religion is vain."

At this point, by way of conclusion, the apostle gives
the best of all definitions of religion. ''Pure religion,"
he says, ''and undefiled before God and the Father" —
not as men in their unwisdom conceive it, but before the
discerning eyes of the omniscient One — " is to visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep him-
self unspotted from the world."

This definition of religion will bear analysis. On one
side it is " to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic-
tion." In this instance a single form of benevolence is

368 HINTS AND HELPS.

used to typify the whole range of beneficent duties which
outwardly characterize the Christian life. In general
terms, religion is to do good. This is as the world sees
it. The poor and needy, the suffering and helpless, are
all around us. Everybody is bearing his burden. No-
body is quite happy. There is a sense in which "the
fatherless and widows'' mean all the children of men.
Wherefore the man who is truly religious, having got-
ten his creed from the Scriptures, will show it forth in
doing good unto all men as he hath opportunity. This
is the Golden Rule. This is the other half of the love of
God.

The Bloody Way was traversed by many pietists,
and the wounds of the waylaid traveller, hke open mouths,
passed judgment on them all. The priest walked by,
looked, lamented, and hastened on, and the wounds cried,
"That man's religion is vain!" The Levite came and
gazed sorrowfully; but hearing afar the trumpet-call to
prayer, he could not tarry, and the wounds cried, " That
man's religion is vain !" Then the Samaritan came and
saw and pitied and poured oil and wine into the sufferer's
wounds, but not until they had cried, "This man is
blessed in his deed !"

By all the mercies of God — the Father of lights, who
so far from being the author of evil, is a benefactor " with-
out variableness," and who, brighter and more benignant
than the sun, casts " no shadow by his turning " — by the
mercies of God who hath chosen us as a sort of first-
fruits among his creatures to praise him like the sheaves
that were waved at the altar — by the mercies of the un-
changeable God of goodness, let us show our gratitude by
dispensing kindness among all the suffering sons and
daughters of men.

GRATEFUL OBEDIENCE. 369

But religion "has another side. Its outward form is
benevolence, but its true inwardness is purity from sin.
If to " visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction "
were the sole requirement, then heart and conscience
might have little or nothing to do. In this case religion
is only skin-deep ; any charlatan may imitate it. But it is
also — over and under and within all — '' to keep himself
unspotted from the world;" and here the counterfeiter
is ruled out. We may deceive one another with a show
of goodness, but God knows whether the soul is clean
or not. All things are naked and open before him.
He knoweth the secret imagination of the heart of a
man.

None can '' keep himself unspotted " until his spots
of moral defilement have first been washed off. A reso-
lution for the future cannot atone for the past. As well
might a leper say, '' I will never expose myself to leprosy
again : why should I remain among the outcasts ? I will
veil my face and enter the city." His scales would still
be upon him. Let the sinner be cleansed first. How ?

" There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains."

Then good resolutions are in order. Being cleansed,
let him keep clean, for without holiness no man shall
see God. If we are disciples of Christ, washed in his
blood, we must not be conformed to the world. We
must hate sin and avoid the appearance of it. Spotless-
ness is the requirement. Do our best and we still fall
short of it. What then? " If any man sin we have an
advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the right-
eous." A cry for help and he is beside us ; a prayer for
24

370 HINTS AND HELPS.

pardon and his hands are lifted in blessing over us, ''Son,
thy sins be forgiven thee !"

O beloved, let us stand by the fountain ! There is
safety nowhere else. Here is the beginning and end of
religion, after all. '' His blood flowed most freely in
streams of salvation." At his cross we get our creed and
our moral code, and in converse with him we get our in-
spiration to labor of love and patience of hope. Closer to
him, then, all ye who covet the religion pure and unde-
filed — closer to him in faith and conduct here, that in the
endless hereafter ye may dwell in the light of his counte-
nance. For Christ is all. He is Alpha and Omega, the
beginning of noble purpose, the end of holy aspiration —
first, last, midst, and all in all.

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 37 1

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE.

I Peter 1:1-12.

" He blesseth God for his manifold spiritual graces/*
so runs the title of Peter's exordium. If ever a man had
occasion to bless God, it was Peter. A son of the sea,
born in the tempest and bred among fishermen, bold,
headstrong, probably not above swearing when emphasis
was wanting — large-hearted and open-handed — just the
stuff that great rogues and great apostles both are made
of — it was a great day when the Master found him at his
nets and said, '* Follow me." He lifted his eyes and saw
in the Hght of the Face bending over him the possibility
of a new and better life. And he arose and left all — nets,
boats, comrades, bracing winds of Gennesaret, bickering
in the fish-markets, sordid fret and worry, bread-and-but-
ter work — '' he left all and followed Him." It was as when
the perambulating adventurer of Genoa sailed out between
the pillars of Hercules in search of an indefinite some-
where— a land at the worst beyond beggary, with gold at
its heart and harvests on its bosom — a land for dreamers
and visionaries who were weary of the crowded thorough-
fares— call it India, Eldorado, or San Salvador, it matters
not — the Land of Desire, the place of an inheritance !
Thus Peter, when he lifted his eyes, set forth. How the
horizons broadened as he sailed ! Blessings, graces,
" manifold graces," were his. Not a day passed that did
not open up new wonders of the heavenly grace. And as
he sailed he sang, '' For the Lord is good, his mercy en-
dureth for ever !" until one day — just when and where we
know not — the lictors paused, the nails were driven, the

372 HINTS AND HELPS.

death-cry was uttered, and Peter had found his new world,
the Land of the Inheritance.

He wrote this " first Epistle general " at about the
time when Nero unsheathed his sword against the follow-
ers of Christ. His purpose was to encourage these Chris-
tians scattered abroad to be brave and steadfast amid
the multiplying dangers of persecution. To this end, in
pursuance of his own experience in the heavenly mercy,
he quickens their apprehension of the glorious truths
of the gospel, and reminds them that beyond Hfe's fitful
fever — its brief rest broken with horrid dreams and
alarms — lies the Land of the Inheritance. What words
are these, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath begotten us to an inheritance in-
corruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away !''

In the course of his exhortation the apostle sets forth,
in words that glow with enthusiastic fervor, some of the
fundamental doctrines of the gospel which are calculated
to strengthen and enhearten, under the most adverse cir-
cumstances, such as believe in Christ. To these let us
direct our thought.

Firsts Election. He reminds the Christians of the
dispersion that they are " elect according to the fore-
knowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of
the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ."

The fact that this doctrine is enveloped in mystery
must not affect our docile acceptance of it as a fact of rev-
elation, nor prevent us as believers from finding comfort
in it. The sweetest honey is that which is gathered from
the crevice of the rock.

(i) The redeemed are " elect according to the fore-
knowledge of God." There is a difference of opinion be-

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 373

tween Calvinists and Arminians as to whether or no the
election was based on God's foreknowledge that certain
ones would comply with the conditions of the covenant of
Grace ; but both parties to the controversy will agree that
election was ^' according to " foreknowledge. The divine
prescience, whether antecedent to the decree or not, could
by no possibility have been subsequent to it. Indeed, in
one aspect, the question seems wholly trivial, for the sug-
gestion of a chronological sequence in the eternal thoughts
and dealings of One with whom a thousand years are as
a single day is due wholly to the poverty of the finite
mind. It is enough to say with Paul, '' Whom God fore-
knew he also did predestinate; moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he called,
them he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Any attempt to analyze the mental pro-
cesses of the infinite and omniscient God must necessarily
be futile. We cannot say '' before " and '' after " of the
things which He wrought before the beginning of time.
The goings forth which were from eternity cannot be made
to keep step with our procession of days.

(2) It is added that the election of saints is *^ through
sanctification of the Spirit." No unholy man can claim
election ; for personal purity is the proof of it. Not good
works or morality of our own fabrication, but that right-
eousness which is wrought by the Holy Spirit in the pro-
cess of sanctification. Thus the apostle Paul says to the
Thessalonians, '' God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification " (2 Thess. 2 : 13). We
are not, therefore, saved without works ; but the works of
salvation are such as are wrought not by ourselves, but
by the Holy Ghost abiding in us. Our characters are
not self-made, but the product of divine workmanship ; as

374 HINTS AND HELPS.

it is written, " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-
restraint " (Gal. 5 : 22). These are the graces that con-
stitute character. It is of such that the Lord said, ** Ye
cannot bear fruit of yourselves " (John 15 : 4).

(3) Still further. The saints are *' elect unto obe-
dience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." The
popular antipathy to the doctrine of election lies largely
in the misconception that God has, for reasons known to
himself alone, selected a favored company to receive pass-
ports into heaven. This however is not the immediate
purpose of God ; the elect are chosen to be obedient and
holy, to lean hard on Christ and keep the precepts of the
Decalogue and the Golden Rule. This is the calling and
election of every follower of Christ. And following out
that election, he must patiently continue in well-doing,
must Hve on the margin of the ''fountain that is filled with
blood'' and neglect no opportunity of helping others and
so glorifying God.

The second doctrine to which Peter refers by way of
encouragement is Regeneration. '' Blessed be God," he
exclaims, '* who hath begotten us again !" The mystery
of election is here reinforced with another not less pro-
found and bewildering. The two go hand in hand ; and
without the one the other could not be.

This is the word of the Master, /' Verily, verily I say
unto thee. Ye must be born again." Must be ! Never a
soul has passed into glory without it. The shining seats
of heaven are filled with souls that entered without fame
or learning or anything else that men count worth the
having, but not one without the " new birth." For '* ex-
cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." ,

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 375

(i) This new birth is said to be " unto a lively (i. e.,
living) hope." The soul that has experienced it dwells
no longer among the tombs, but looks away, clear-eyed,
towards visions so glorious that they evermore quicken
the pulse and gladden the life. There are perfunctory
pietists who speak of their " hope " as if it were a ticket
on a heavenward-bound train — a thing to be carried in
the pocket and produced for show on occasion or when
called for. But the hope to which God hath re-begotten
us is a Hving, energizing hope, dwelling in the heart like
an angel in the secret place of a pavilion — a hope with
eyes to glisten, a voice to cheer, hands to uplift, and feet
to run on errands of mercy. This is the hope that ^^ ma-
keth not ashamed," but helps and strengthens, like an
anchor, sure and steadfast, taking hold of that within the
veil.

(2) The assurance of this hope is in ** the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead." The close relation of this
miracle with the new birth must not be overlooked. It
not only furnishes the type and figure of it — for as Jesus
as the firstfruits rose from the dead, so do his people from
spiritual darkness into newness of life — it also seals the
atonement which makes it possible. " He was delivered
for our offences and raised again for our justification."
The work of redemption without this consummating won-
der is but a deed of conveyance without a signature.
Wherefore it is written, *' If Christ be not raised ye are
yet in your sins." But because he liveth we shall live
also ; and because he conquered death and hell we may
believe in the reality of that spiritual transforrnation by
which we enter into life and immortality. Augustine
wrote, *'When I did apprehend this, O Lord, then did I
believe that whosoever believeth in thee, though he were

3/6 HINTS AND HELPS.

dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth
in thee shall never die !"

(3) The hope of the Christian, thus fortified, opens
to him the rights and privileges of sonship. For we, be-
ing re-begotten unto a lively hope by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, are, by the same token, re-begotten " unto an
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away/' The inheritance is for children only. We
are received not by the spirit of bondage again unto fear,
but by the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, ** Abba,
Father." Blessed truth ! Henceforth he calls us not ser-
vants but friends ; nay more, not friends but sons and
daughters. And if children then heirs (Gal. 4:7), heirs
of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8 : 17). And
thus it comes about that, in the consummation of our liv-
ing hope, of right as children and still of grace by adop-
tion, we are '' made meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light '' (Col. 1:12).

The third dLOoXxm^ on which Peter dwells in this ex-
hortation to the persecuted saints is Perseverance, The
inheritance, he says, is for such as are '' kept by the power
of God." Here again there is a difference of opinion
between Calvinists and Arminians ; the former saying,
'' Once a Christian, always a Christian," the latter holding
to the possibility of falHng from grace. Yet both believe
in Perseverance ; the former as a fact, the latter as a duty,
God grant that, whatever we may believe as to the method
or certainty of the keeping, we may all be kept by the
power of God.

(i) By the power of God. For otherwise we shall
surely fall and perish by the way. Of our own selves we
can do nothing. One of the early Saxon believers is said
to have taken for his crest a wine-glass with a broken foot

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 377

and over it the prayer, ** Hold thou me up/' For a man
to trust to his own strength is as if he were to seek shelter
in his own shadow in a hot day. '' In thee, O Lord, do I
put my trust ; let me never be confounded." Whether
there be any possibility of losing the living hope or not,
certain it is that no man ever lost it while trusting in God.
For

(2) We are kept '' through faith." Faith is the hand
that holds God's hand. To let go is to fall away from
him. It is comforting to know, however, that while our
faith grips hold of him his power also grips hold of us.
Therefore if we fall it must be by a double letting go. We
walk amid innumerable foes and dangers ; there are lions
in the path, robbers in the clefts of the rocks, and arrows
flying through the air. If we are wise we shall cHng close
to our great Guide and Helper, like little children led by
their parents through a night peopled with grim shadows.
Faith clings fast; faith crowds close; faith keeps step;
faith heeds every word of admonition ; faith looks up
with trustful eyes. We are kept through faith, '' kept

(3) Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time." This is the glorious end of our faith. But what
is salvation ? Not a mere deliverance from the fire and
brimstone pains of endless retribution : that is the very
lowest and most meagre conception of it. Salvation is a
large word, embracing all the joys of Christian living here
and hereafter, all the delights of service in the church
militant and, by promotion, in the church triumphant.
All things in earth and heaven that an immortal soul
should covet are rolled together in it. As yet we catch
but glimpses of salvation. Our sweetest moments yield
but foretastes of it. " The milk and honey," as Bunyan
said, " are beyond the wilderness." There are great sur-

3/8 HINTS AND HELPS.

prises in store for us. Our salvation is not revealed as
yet, but is "ready to be revealed in the last time.'^

These are the encouragements with which Peter, in
his exordium, seeks to enhearten the persecuted and suf-
fering saints. In truths like these, foregleams of hope and
earnests of salvation, ''ye do greatly rejoice," he says,
" though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness
through manifold trials."

And there is a " needs be." The flower yields not its
perfume save by bruising. The quartz must be crushed
or its gold will never pass current. To the saints of
Peter's time the trial was by sword and faggot ; to us it
comes by beckoning hands or pointed fingers, by sidelong
glances or honeyed words, but always the fire is under
the crucible ; whence our frequent " heaviness." Never-
theless, joy is the appointed portion of our cup. " This
is a goodly neckerchief," said Alice Driver, touching the
chain upon her neck. '' One more stile," said another on
his way to Smithfield, ''and I shall be at heaven's gate."
Thus at the worst our afflictions are light and endure but
a moment. And brighter than gold of Ophir is the faith
that, being tried with fire, is found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile the Son of God is with us in the fiery
furnace — ever present, ever helpful — *'in whom, though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un-
speakable and full of glory." Midnight clouds may hide
the stars of heaven ; but there is no darkness that can
obscure the shining of his face. In six troubles he is with
us and in seven no evil shall befall us.

All this by the way, and when all is over, " the end
of your faith, even the salvation of your souls " — a mere
hint of the great consummation, the surprise that awaits

THE HEAVENLY INHERITANCE. 379

US when God shall draw the veil and show us salvation !
Vainly have the prophets '' inquired and searched dil-
igently concerning it." Vainly do the angels themselves
'' desire to look into it." To us it is given, as the end of
our faith, to know salvation, to enter into it as into a land
of inexhaustible treasure, to know what is the length and
breadth of it. *' It is not for me," wrote Bishop Rust,
'' nor for any mortal creature, to make a map of the Canaan
above. It may be that some heavenly pilgrim, who with
holy thoughts is continually travelling thitherward, arrives
sometimes near the borders of the promised land and
gets upon the top of Pisgah where he has prospect of a
fair country that lieth a great way off; but he cannot tell
how to describe it. All that he hath to say to the curious
inquirer is this, * If thou wouldst know the glories of it,
go and see.' "

Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we
know that when he shall appear we shall be like him ; for
we shall see him as he is.

380 HINTS AND HELPS.

THE GLORIFIED SAVIOUR.

Rev. 1 : 9-20.

The key to the book of the Revelation is Maranatha,
" The Lord Cometh !" It is the Book of the Coming of
Christ.

The world was even in John's time groaning for " the
restitution of all things." Nero was on the throne. His
gardens were lit with living torches. The blood of the
Christians was flowing like water. Ax, faggot, cross,
whip of scorpions, teeth of lions — the fiendish ingenuity
of the inquisitor was exhausted in devising new and more
terrific modes of suffering and death.

Meanwhile John was in Patmos, an exile for the
testim.ony of Jesus Christ. Sole survivor of the Twelve,
bearing the burden of seven decades of years, he sat upon
that lonely outlook in the ^gean and imagined that he
saw afar the flames of Nero's holocausts and heard faint
voices as of men and women amid the flames committing
their souls to God. And he — oldest and worthiest bro-
ther of James that perished by the sword — had no lot or
part in this matter. They were dying and he lived ; they
were ascending in bright chariots, and he as helpless as a
child upon a bed of languishing. Was he not worthy ?
In his dim eyes — son of thunder that he was — the old
light must have kindled ever and anon like fire from dy-
ing embers* But God has need of dreamers as well as *
confessors. In vain John bares his breast towards heaven
as if devoting it to sword and javelin for the testimony of
Jesus. He must bide in his place. God will open the
heavens unto him in another way : he shall dream

THE GLORIFIED SAVIOUR. 38 1

dreams and see visions. In his sight the Holy One shall
walk amid the golden candlesticks and shall convey
through him the message to the universal church. The
seven seals of the Book of Destiny shall be broken and
the seven vials of wrath poured out before him. The
Lord shall go forth clad in a blood-stained garment, fol-
lowed by squadrons in white apparel, to meet the dragon.
Then great Armageddon ! The heavens shall ring with
battle-cries and roar of artillery. The hosts of darkness
shall be turned in flight and their leader hurled headlong
into the abyss amid exultant shouts, " Babylon the Great
is fallen, is fallen P' Then the return, the welcome, the
marriage-supper, hosannas and hallelujahs, ''For Thou
art worthy to receive honor and glory and dominion and
power for ever and ever !" All this shall John behold,
and his vision shall be for the encouragement of God's
people until the coming of the Lord. Though He tarry,
let them confidently wait. In fulness of time — when the
seals are broken and the vials emptied^the heavens shall
part asunder and He shall appear. It is the last word :
an old man kneeling on a barren rock, with face uplifted
and glorified, eyes dim to earth's scenes, but Ht with the
splendors beyond, cries Maranatha! ''Amen; even so
come, Lord Jesus !" The waves sob and moan about
Patmos; the dreamer is gone, but his visions remain.
And he seeth evermore face to face and eye to eye.

^^I was in the Spirit on the Lorcfs day!^ So the
story of the visions begins. The day referred to was
evidently the first day of the week, which in lieu of the
Jewish Sabbath was kept sacred by the early Christians
in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ. It has
ever since been a day of visions, of spiritual exaltation.

382 HINTS AND HELPS.

Worn out with our six days of toil we come to this Lord^s
day, Hke Alpine tourists who, after weary climbing, reach
the summit and gaze upon a world far down and away.
Here is the healthful mountain, the clear light of heaven,
the boundless reach of vision. God be praised for it !

''And I heard a voice, and turning to see who it was
that spake with me, I saw seven golden candlesticks,^^ In
the twenty-fifth of Exodus, where instruction is given for
the building of the tabernacle, you may find the counter-
part of this : a golden candlestick with a central stem and
three branches on every side, with buds and flowers and
almond fruit. It was tree-like in form and was probably
intended to symbolize the tree of life which is in the
midst of the paradise of God. Here it typifies the Church,
the universal Church, through which God communicates
to the world his double gift of spiritual life and light.

''And in the midst of the candlesticks I saw One like
unto the Son of Man!' The majestic figure here referred
to was evidently not the essential God, for God is spirit ;
he ^'hath neither body, parts, nor passions," and no man
hath therefore ever seen him or can see him. But he has
manifested himself in Jesus Christ, who is the express
image of the Father, the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
In knowing him we make the acquaintance of God.

It is a notable fact that the Scriptures give no de-
scription of the personal appearance of Christ. There is
one traditional representation of him in the spurious
" Letter of Lentulus," as follows : '' He is a man of mid-
dle stature on whose face the purity and charm of youth
are mingled with the though tfulness and dignity of man-
hood. His hair, which has been likened to the color of
wine, is parted in the middle of the forehead and flows
down over the neck. His features are paler and of a

THE GLORIFIED SAVIOUR. 383

more Hellenic type than the weather-bronzed and olive-
tinted faces of the hardy fishermen who follow him. But
though his features have evidently been marred by sor-
row; though his eyes, whose pure and indescribable
glance seems to read the very secrets of the heart, have »
often glowed through tears ; yet no man whose soul has
not been eaten through by sin and selfishness can look
unmoved on the divine expression of that calm and pa-
tient face/' But beautiful as this description is, no reli-
ance whatever can be placed upon it. In the absence of
any trustworthy statement as to the appearance of Jesus
in the flesh, we turn with pleasure to this glimpse of him
walking, glorified, among the golden candlesticks.

^^One like unto the Son of Man^ The dreamer
could scarcely believe that this was the same Jesus whom
he had known among the humiliations of His earthly life.
He had seen him in the home at Nazareth, at the car-
penter's bench with the chips and shavings about his feet,
trudging wearily along the thoroughfares, sitting on the
curb of Jacob's well anhungered and athirst, dragged by
a mob to Pilate's judgment-hall, scourged and spit upon,
nailed to the cross, carried to his burial. Could this be
the same ? Once John had stood on Mt. Tabor and had
seen him transfigured for a brief season, his garments
white and glistering and his face as the sun shineth in his
strength ; yet even that was but the faintest foregleam of
this vision of transcendent majesty. This is Christ glori-
fied. The particulars of this symbolical portrait are well
worthy of our closer attention. One day we shall behold
it for ourselves — hisce oculis — but meanwhile let us try to
imagine it.

I. It is written ''He was clothed with a garment down
to the footr While he dwelt among men he doubtless

384 HINTS AND HELPS.

wore, as became his station, the short, seamless tunic of a
GaHlean peasant; it is to be observed, however, that in
this instance he wears a garment which had been set
apart from time immemorial as the distinctive vesture of
• the High-Priest. Here is a vivid reference to the priest-
hood of Jesus, who having offered himself as a sacrifice,
now liveth to make intercession for us.

2. ^^ A7id he was girt with a golden girdled Not
about the loins, as athletes and laboring men were ac-
customed to gird themselves for unusual tasks, but around
the breast. In Exodus 28: 15 we find that this golden
band around the breast is identical with the breastplate
worn by the High-Priest on festival days. It was sur-
rounded by four rows of precious stones whereon were
inscribed the names of the tribes of Israel. At the back
it was bound with wreathen work. And it was written,
" Thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim
and Thummim, and Aaron shall bear the names of the
children of Israel in the breastplate upon his heart, when
he goeth in unto the Holy Place, for a memorial before
the Lord." So does Jesus, the great High-Priest, inter-
cede for his people before the throne of the heavenly
grace, having entered into the Most Holy Place within
the veil. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. Our names are
written upon the palms of his hands. He ever maketh
intercession for us.

3. '^And His hairs were white'' But not with age.
In the vision of Daniel a similar statement is made as to
the Ancient of Days : '' His garment was white as snow,
and the hair of his head Hke pure wool." To Him one
day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one
day. Thus also, in one of our familiar hymns :

THE GLORIFIED SAVIOUR. 385

"Eternity with all its years
Stands present to thy view ;
To thee there 's nothing old appears,
Great God, there 's nothing new."

His years are aeons, his lifetime eternity. Yet the white-
ness of his hair indicates none of the decrepitude of age.
Kings and potentates grow old, but not this One. Their
hairs are silvered as the years pass ; the keepers of the
house tremble, and they that look out of the windows are
darkened. But Christ, coeval with eternity and Creator
of time, grows not old. The whiteness of his locks is the
spotless glory of the snows on Hermon. It is the ineffa-
ble whiteness of holiness. The stars of heaven are not
pure before him.

4. ''And his eyes were as aflame of fire!' Oh those
eyes ! The eyes of the Lord ! Who shall ever escape
them ? For behold they run to and fro through the
earth beholding the evil and the good. There is no
creature that is not manifest in his sight, for all things are
naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do. This must needs be since he is the Judge of all.
He can make no mistakes. In his administration there
are no miscarriages of justice. He judgeth according to
that he seeth, and all his judgments are right.

5. ''And his feet were like unto fine brass f hterally,
burnished brass. The reference may be to the stability of
his government. In the image that appeared in Daniel's
dream, symbolizing the great empires of the world, the
feet were of clay. The glory of this world passeth away.
The path of history is lined with the ruins of thrones and
dynasties. But Christ's kingdom is an everlasting king-
dom and his dominion is for ever and ever.

There may also be a reference here to that ''swift,

Bints and Helps. o C

386 HINTS AND HELPS.

untiring grace " with which our Lord accomplished his
ministry on earth. Was there ever a monograph of
character so comprehensive as this, '' He went about do-
ing good '' ? Much of his wonderful life was spent in
journeying. Oh those blessed, weary feet ! weary for us
and pierced for us. How beautiful are they upon the
mountains, coming to bring salvation and publish peace !

6. ''His voice was as the sound of ma?iy waters^''
resounding and powerful. The figure came to John as
he sat upon the barren cliffs hearkening to the roar of
the ^gean billows. As the sound of the tumultuous
ocean is but the mighty harmony of tens of thousands of
confluent streams that murmur into it, so is God's voice
the commingled sum of all voices in nature, history, and
the souls of men. The time will come when our dull ears
shall be unstopped and we shall hear it — hear it every-
where and in everything — as dwellers by the sea are al-
ways conscious of its deep reverberations. So the Psalm-
ist heard it : " The voice of the Lord is upon the waters ;
the God of glory thundereth. The voice of the Lord is
powerful ; it divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the
Lord shaketh the wilderness, yea, the wilderness of Ka-
desh. The Lord sitteth upon the flood ; he sitteth King
for ever."

7. ''In his right hand were seven stars.'' These were
set in a signet-ring like a cluster of diamonds. They de-
note the ministers — here called *' angels" or messengers —
of the churches. Whereon it may be remarked that while
''star preachers" abound, there is no superfluity of such
as gleam upon God's signet. To be held in his right
hand or worn upon it, to move as he moves us, and min-
ister to his glory alone, this is to be God's true men.

8. "Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged

THE GLORIFIED SAVIOUR. 387

sword,'' Of many figures used to represent the incisive-
ness of the divine Word none is more striking than this.
The sword's double edge is typical of its two-fold power
to convert or to destroy. For the Word is to some a
savor of Hfe unto life, but to others of death unto death.
It is indeed quick and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Let it be observed that the sword which Christ has
used in spiritual conquest is no veritable weapon of steel,
but the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

" Armies thou hast in heaven which fight
And follow thee, all clothed in white ;
But here on earth, though thou hadst need,
Thou wouldst no legions, but wouldst bleed.
The sword with which thou dost command
Is in thy mouth, not in thy hand."

9. ''And his countenance was as the sun shineth in
his strength^ How hard it is to look on the sun at
noonday when he shineth in his strength ! So dazzling
is the light of Christ's countenance. He dwelleth in light
and glory unapproachable. In the year that king Uzziah
died the prophet Isaiah ''saw the Lord sitting upon a
throne high and lifted up." Nay, he could scarcely be
said to have seen the King ; he did indeed catch a glimpse
of the outhnes of a throne, and heard the rustle of wings
and voices calling one to another, ''Holy! holy! holy!"
and saw something which he called glory filling the tem-
ple. And by this he was so appalled that he cried, " Woe
is me, for I am undone : because I am a man of unclean
lips and mine eyes have seen the King !" In like manner
John '' fell upon his face as dead."

388 HINTS AND HELPS.

lo. And then it is written, ''He laid his right hand
upon me and said, Fear not f' If John had been really
in doubt as to the identity of the One who walked amid
the candlesticks, this voice must have reassured him.
He had heard it at the transfiguration, in the upper
chamber, amid the storms of Gennesaret. And those
words '' Fear not !" how familiar they were ! And the
kindly touch of that right hand ! Ah now he knew him !
This was indeed his friend, Jesus, the Son of Man ! I am
he that liveth and was dead and am alive for evermore y
Vanish the memory of a dead Christ prepared for his
burial ! He liveth ! The keys of death and hell are at
his girdle. And because he liveth we shall live also ; and
because he hath triumphed we also shall triumph over
death and hell. And we shall sit down together with
him in his throne.

" For ever with the Lord :
Amen, so let it be.
Life from the dead is in that word,
'Tis immortality,''

There are many souls in Patmos exiled from home
and kindred, from joy of service and fellowship in great
endeavor. They hear the voice that thundereth and see
visions that dazzle and bewilder them. They tremble
and are afraid. Speak to them O Priest above, that canst
be touched with a feehng of our infirmities ! Say to them,
*' Fear not !" Tell them thou livest and carest for them.
Lay thy right hand upon them — the hand that knoweth
all the gentleness of a mother's touch. Let them behold
at thy girdle other keys than those of death and hell, and
with them open thou the gates of heavenly rest, that they,
clothed in thy white holiness, may boldly and worthily
enter in !